Olsen Talks About Tax Reform

Sacramento, CA — Former Mother Lode Assembly Member and current Republican Leader of the California State Assembly, Kirstin Olsen, speaks out against a proposed Tax Bill. Senate Bill 8, proposed in December by Senator Bob Hertzberg, (D-Van Nuys) is called by Olsen “little more than a $10 billion tax increase.” Olsen details her ideas about tax reform in a new myMotherLode blog.

In Sen. Hertzberg’s says Senate Bill 8, the proposed Upward Mobility Act, proposes a tax on services which make up 80% of California’s economy. The Bill would exempt health care, education, and those with under $100,000 in gross sales. Details were explained in the January news story “Change California’s Tax Code” here.

The bill proposes a tax reduction to be phased in “when the new revenues are sufficient to replace the personal income tax and corporate tax.” SB 8 says that local jurisdictions would not be authorized to increase sales tax on services, the way they now can do with the sales tax on goods, and the funds would be controlled using traditional state allocations to local governments.

State Senate Bill 8 does not have a proposed start date when it might become effective. Assembly Member Olsen notes that personal income taxes account for 66 percent of the state’s annual tax revenue. She says “Make no mistake – the State needs a more stable and predictable source of revenue, but creating stability does not require more tax dollars.”

The Bill needs a two-thirds super majority vote in favor to pass. Read Assembly Member Olsen’s blog “Raising Taxes is Not Reform” here.