Mixed bag for taxpayers this year

This past play was the deadline for Gov. Gavin Newsom to motion oregon veto bills. Thankfully, galore of the worst bills, similar attempts to make a wealthiness taxation and a perennial effort to repeal 1 of the astir important protections successful Proposition 13 by lowering the existing two-thirds ballot threshold for some section bonds and peculiar taxes to 55 percent, failed to get retired of the Legislature.

By the extremity of the session, lone a fistful of bills we opposed made it to the governor’s desk. Let’s reappraisal however taxpayers fared.

On the affirmative side, the politician signed Assembly Bill 398 which prevents the Department of Motor Vehicles from making a nett by selling idiosyncratic information. By ensuring that the section cannot enforce charges that transcend a service’s cost, AB 398 removed a unsafe accidental for the section to commercialized invaluable information to 3rd enactment interests.

Senate Bill 219 authorizes the auditor oregon the taxation collector to cancel immoderate penalty, costs, oregon different charges associated with a missed spot taxation outgo caused by the authorities shelter-in-place bid if definite criteria are met. The Legislature has been peculiarly progressive successful addressing the harm the COVID-19 lockdown had connected renters, but the pandemic has besides had a tremendous interaction connected homeowners arsenic well. SB 219 provides important alleviation for homeowners.

On a akin note, Senate Bill 303 extended by 2 years the five-year clip play nether existing taxation instrumentality successful which to transportation a Prop. 13 basal twelvemonth worth to a comparable spot pursuing a disaster.

Legislation which enhances authorities transparency and national information besides passed. SB 274 requires section agencies to marque agendas and each the documents constituting the docket packet disposable by email astatine the petition of a subordinate of the public. Previously, it was lone required by mail.

We were besides pleased to spot the politician veto SB 660. All SB 660 would person done is thrust up the outgo of getting measures connected the ballot. That favors affluent and entrenched interests.

Now for the bad.

The politician signed AB 428. The measure was intelligibly successful effect to the overwhelming support of Measure K successful San Bernardino County, which amended the County Charter to enforce a word bounds of 1 word and reduced the full compensation for each subordinate of the Board of Supervisors to $5,000 per month. But if Measure K is simply a problem, it is nary worse than stripping voters of the quality to designate their preferred magnitude of presumption and acceptable wage of the region supervisors due to the fact that lawmakers dislike the result of an election. That’s what AB 428 does.

AB 1177 starts the process of creating a nationalist bank. While California’s coffers whitethorn beryllium flush with currency owed to a pandemic-defying banal market, what we bash not person is the wealth to experimentation with a risky venture.

The politician besides signed SB 9 and 10. You are apt already acquainted with these 2 lodging density bills, they were the astir arguable of the twelvemonth for reasons that I person opined connected successful this file previously.

Unfortunately, the politician besides vetoed 2 bully bills. SB 675 would person fto the disabled and aged wage their spot taxes successful monthly installments alternatively than successful 2 lump payments and AB 339 would person required larger cities and counties to proceed to see an accidental for members of the nationalist to be by telephone oregon net option, arsenic they were capable to bash during the pandemic.

So however did we do? Well, the bully quality is present we’re harmless from Sacramento until January. The atrocious quality is that the politician signed into instrumentality 770 bills. But information beryllium told, it wasn’t a unspeakable twelvemonth for the payer — astatine slightest by California standards.

Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.