GOP: No new taxes without cap

Local California Assembly Republicans Chuck DeVore and Van Tran voted alongside a unanimous coalition of assembly Republicans to oppose a new Democrat-backed budget plan Sunday, which means the state still doesn’t have a budget more than a month into the fiscal year.

However, DeVore and Tran consider the vote an important step toward solving California’s budget stalemate.

“Now that the vote has failed, we’re hoping that some of our suggestions will be taken seriously,” DeVore said.

In their latest plan, which had majority support but fell short of the two-thirds vote requirement, the Democrats attempted to make up for about half of the $15 billion budget shortfall by raising taxes on corporations and people making more than $321,000.

DeVore and Tran said they will not consider a bill that raises taxes without imposing strict spending caps on the legislature, which would prevent them from increasing expenditures more than they would increase due to inflation and population growth.

“Right now, the leadership is talking, which is a good sign. For the past month we haven’t really been engaged in real talks about a compromise,” Tran said.

DeVore is optimistic the Assembly will come to a consensus on a budget by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the Democratic challengers for both men’s seats in the November elections say Tran and DeVore are being unrealistic when they refuse to raise taxes under any circumstances.

“Absolutism both at the federal and the state level has done severe damage to the economy. I’m working for a real working majority in the legislature. Get some people in there willing to negotiate,” said Ken Arnold, who’s challenging Tran’s seat in the 68th District.

Arnold accused the Republicans in the legislature of taking away needed state revenue in the name of preventing any new taxes by refusing to close “loopholes” like sales tax exemptions for yacht owners.

Both Arnold and DeVore’s competitor, Mike Glover, believe some form of tax increase is inevitable. Glover believes a graduated tax increase on households making more than $200,000 would be a good place to start, but believes increasing corporate taxes is wrong.

“I would not tax corporations because it would put California at a competitive disadvantage,” Glover said.

DeVore favors saving money by decreasing the amount California subsidizes healthcare and welfare.

“Why does the majority party allow people to stay on welfare and not pull themselves up by their boot straps and get back to work?” DeVore said.

Drilling within three miles of the California coast is a solution he puts forward for growing state revenues.

Democrats and Republicans have not yet agreed on a strategy for overcoming the budget shortfall, but DeVore and Tran believe it’s not far off.

“I’m still very optimistic that we can come up with a compromise that everyone can agree on,” Tran said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].