Brown takes tax-the-rich plan directly to California voters

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday unveiled a tax-the-rich ballot initiative aimed at staving off budget cuts to education and public safety.

“The stark truth is that without new tax revenues, we will have no other choice but to make deeper and more damaging cuts to schools, universities, public safety and our courts,” Mr. Brown said in an open letter to Californians.

The proposed ballot measure would increase the state income tax for high earners as well as the sales tax. Single filers earning $250,000 annually would see their income tax bill increased by 1 percent, while those earning between $300,000 and $500,000 would pay an additional 1.5 percent.

Californians earning more than $500,000 would see their income taxes jump by 2 percent. The increases would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012, and remain in effect for five years.

The measure also would increase the state sales tax by a half a cent, to 7.75 percent, for five years. Both the sales and income tax increases would expire at the end of 2016.

The governor said he was forced to go the signature-gathering route after running into opposition from Republican legislators, who have refused to give him the votes necessary to place the measure on the November 2012 ballot.

The Brown initiative is one of five tax-increase proposals seeking a spot on the California November ballot. The others include one sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers, which would raise income taxes on those earning more than $1 million per year and dedicate 60 percent of the revenue to education.

Polls show that California voters generally are opposed to tax increases for anything except education. Mr. Brown emphasized in his letter that the funding raised would go “only to education and public safety - not on other programs that we simply cannot afford.”

The measures are likely to benefit from a surge in voter interest in the presidential campaign. President Obama remains popular in California, and his supporters may favor a tax increase.

Even so, Republicans predicted that the shaky economy and high unemployment would doom any tax initiative, no matter how noble the cause.

“Since 2007, Californians have lost $2 trillion in home equity,” said Tom Del Beccaro, chairman of the California Republican Party. “The last seven statewide tax increases on the ballot have been voted down. The idea that voters are going to pass any of these tax initiatives is folly.”

Mr. Brown argued that the state has made progress in improving its fiscal condition, cutting the budget deficit in half and reducing the state’s workforce by 5,500 positions.

But the cuts have taken a toll on public services, he said. “Schools have been hurt, and state funding for our universities has been reduced by 25 percent. Support for the elderly and the disabled has fallen to where it was in 1983. Our courts suffered debilitating reductions,” Mr. Brown said.

Democrats have begun to test the waters on tax increases after years of economic downturn, but the early results have not been encouraging. A Colorado ballot measure to raise the sales and income tax in order to fund education was overwhelmingly defeated by voters in November. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reportedly is considering a state income tax increase on high earners, despite his previous opposition to a “millionaire’s tax.”

Any proposal would be broached when the state legislature convenes in January, according to news accounts.

California and New York are two of just four states facing shortfalls in their current budget years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The other two states are Missouri and Washington.