Digital News Report – Last week the Governor vetoed a budgeting gimmick recently pushed by liberals in the Legislature that would have abolished a voter-backed initiative to protect funding for our highways and roads. Considering that I was a strong ‘NO’ vote, I applaud the governor’s choice.
Proposition 42, passed by voters in 2002, provides a specific formula for the allocation of sales tax revenue from gasoline purchases. Regrettably, the majority party schemed up a complex gas-tax swap that altered the sales tax and increased the excise tax on gasoline by over 17 cents per gallon. Their complex maneuvering would’ve allowed bureaucrats to more easily rearrange where the gasoline revenues go, without a vote or the Legislature or the protection in funding associated with Proposition 42.
It’s time to stop with the complicated gimmicks that ignore the wishes of the taxpayers, and start auditing spending and evaluating government programs for effectiveness. That’s the only way we can find real savings in California.