California tax revenue yields multibillion-dollar surplus

[alp227]

Source: LA Times

California has been flooded with revenue this tax season and is on track to finish the fiscal year with a surplus of billions of dollars, according to officials.

State coffers contain about $4.5 billion more than expected in personal income tax payments. Nearly $2.8 billion of it arrived April 17, the third-highest single-day collection in California history, according to government figures.

Business taxes have also rebounded and are likely to be $200 million ahead of projections.

Gov. Jerry Brown will reveal his latest spending plans this month. State law may require much of the surplus to go to schools and community colleges.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20130503,0,1598116.story

[TDale313]

1. That's my state:-)

People love to make fun or complain about California... and a lot of that's deserved... But there's a lot to love about it and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

My favorite part? "State law may require much of the surplus to go to schools and community colleges"

[okaawhatever]

17. Yeah, that's a real double whammy for the gop crowd. Liberals doing well and getting smarter. nt

[tularetom]

2. Schools and community colleges are rightly the top priority

but we shouldn't forget that this state's physical plant (infrastructure) is in the crapper and will require a ginormous investment to just get back to below par.

[olddad56]

3. A far cry from Arnold, Jerry Brown is a very good governor.

I liked him the first time around and I like him now.

[catchnrelease]

10. I will second that!

I have always been a Jerry Brown fan. While people were mocking him as 'moonbeam' and saying he is too old etc, I would think 'Just wait and see what he does.' He said it would not be easy or without pain to some, so he did not sugar coat his plan. But it worked. Getting rid of the obstructing republicans helped a lot too.

[calimary]

14. I'll third it!

Voted for him back when (ENDING the reagan era here in California, what a relief!) and voted for him again just recently!

And this:

"Getting rid of the obstructing republicans helped a lot too."

Amen!!! Wish we could do that on a nationwide scale. We might be able to fix a few things.

[2Design]

4. did mitt pay his taxes n/t

[flamingdem]

5. Les go shoppin'

[AdHocSolver]

6. The best way to reduce debt is to increase revenue. nt

[broadcaster75201]

7. We got rid of the #GOP here last Nov and look

In CA, we used to need 2/3 to pass a tax increase. Last Nov, we got the GOP below 1/3. And look . . . we have a surplus. The GOP did to CA what it is trying to do to the U.S. The ONLY way to save America is how was saved CA ... get the fuck rid of the GOP.

[Cha]

9. So happy for you! I see Gov Brown raised taxes and on

the wealthy, no doubt. Then I know of one person in Calif who hates Gov Brown more than he hates Pres Obama. My brainwashed fox viewer former husband. Must be apopletic by now.

[Lordquinton]

11. We give brown too much credit

I like him, but the majority of the credit goes to the state who stood up and kicked out most of the Rs so we were actually able to get something done. the 2/3 thing is the biggest stumbling block ever, and if we want to make this last then it needs to be taken out, with extreme prejudice.

I will give Brown the credit that he is not someone they can push around, unlike Davis, he won't be so easily pushed into a phony scandal and ousted.

Brown needs to be slapped for his canal pushing tho, really, really bad idea.

[Retrograde]

13. Including the citizen redistricting panel

that shook loose some formerly safe Republican seats in the state assembly and senate. Way to go, us! One of the times a ballot initiative did some good for a change. The savings from modifying the 3 Strikes law should be kicking in as well.

Now, let's get a couple of years of surplus in the bank so we can start rolling back tuition hikes at state colleges and universities.

[Lordquinton]

19. Let's roll them back now!

Of course I'm a little bias here, as I'm just starting college.

[freshwest]

12. +1,000

[calimary]

15. Yep! That's foundational. republi-CONS simply MUST be voted out. PERIOD.

That. Is. IT.

If we're to get anything done, if we're to solve any problems, if we're to make any progress, if we're to fix anything that's broken, if we're to rectify any wrongs, if we're to reverse any damage, then we have no other alternatives. We have to get RID of the obstructionists - who are just obstructing everything because, like adult-sized snot-nosed Sore Loserman brat-children, they didn't get their way in the last election. So now we have to suffer from their acting-out, selfishness, pig-headedness, and abysmally poor sportsmanship. AND they have no shame. Somehow they think they're "right." Lord help us...

[Sunlei]

8. GOP stopped stealing CA. money

[Kablooie]

16. Always: GOP control - economy collapses. DEM control - economy flourishes.

Why isn't this the image of the parties.
It's been proven over and over again, but the public image is exactly the opposite.

[SunSeeker]

24. Exactly!! nt

[okaawhatever]

18. There's other important things too, I know CA negotiated with Amazon and told them they would have

to pay taxes if they moved there and they agreed. Texas on the other hand just thought they would pay it and when they tried to collect the 30 mil Amazon got up and left the state. Companies will pay taxes, especially if there's value. Now how do we get the gop voters to believe that?

[SnowCritter]

21. Good question

The GOP always seems to put forth the argument that higher taxes cause businesses and the wealthy to leave any state. I saved the "Opinion Exchange" section from the May 20, 2007 issue of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. It's "headline" piece is titled "Do state taxes really make the wealthy walk?" penned by Charlie Quimby and Dane Smith. It's a very interesting piece about whether increased taxes in Minnesota would cause businesses and the wealthy to leave the state. It turns out that, as a general rule, they don't - and those that do usually went to neighboring states with similar tax structures.

[okaawhatever]

22. thanks for that. I'll try to look it up later. taxes are one piece in a larger puzzle. nt

[SnowCritter]

25. Good luck

I tried, albeit briefly, to search the archives at "The Trib". I could find a reference to an article on the same page as the opinion piece I referenced, but not the opinion piece itself.

Oh, and "The Trib" charges to read stuff from their archives (just so's ya' know).

[alp227]

31. Here

http://web.archive.org/web/20070525191523/http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1192983.htm

[underpants]

20. *crickets* on Fox News

No mention of it anywhere on their site as far as I can find.

Wildfire stories oh yeah all over the place but nothing about this Fox News viewers are SOOOO misinformed

[SunSeeker]

23. Gov. Brown is restoring the Golden State and its once world class schools.

It will take a long time to fix the horrible damage done by Republicans and Prop. 13, but we are definitely headed in the right direction.

[okaawhatever]

26. US News and World Report listed 5 CA colleges in it's top 10 Public colleges including spots 1 and 2

1. UC Berkeley
2. UC Los Angeles
3. U of Virginia
4. U of MichiganAnn Arbor
5. UNC Chapel HIll
6. College of William and Mary
7. Georgia Institute of Technology
8. UC Davis
9. UC SanDiego
10. UC Santa Barbara

While California is much larger than most states five spots in the top ten is telling.

[Frustratedlady]

27. That can't be. Brown is a Democrat, right?

Someone must have put the decimal In the wrong place. You surely can't have a good economy (after such a disastrous one) with a Democratic governor and Democratic president. What will people say?

I'm sure the Repubs will figure something out and it won't be pretty.

[LonePirate]

28. The Repubs will say the Dems are stealing taxpayer money to fund a bloated government

They will also say something like the surplus means extra government and extra money Sacramento does not need and should give back to the people of CA.

I have no preference as to whether the surplus is used to pay down debt or to fund schools and universities. I do wish the state's budget turnaround would receive as much national attention as the so-called economic boom in TX.

[bemildred]

29. Democrats own the state at the moment, Governor, Assembly, and Senate.

And we have non-partisan redistricting, nailed dcown in the Constitution. Now we just have to get rid of the undemocratic 2/3 requirement on taxes and we will be back in business.

And Jerry just picked a fight to move money to poor school districts from well off ones, i.e. to equalize public school funding.

[Frustratedlady]

33. Well, congrats to the state for an amazing turn around.

Compare your progress to Wisconsin's near demise with Walker. What a contrast.

[Botany]

30. Take Enron and Arnold out of the equation and look what happens

[OnlinePoker]

32. Use half for infrastructure/education increases...

...and the other half for debt repayment. Less debt means even more money in the coffers next year to do the same thing until the debt is gone and then work on a truly balanced budget without the burden of debt overhanging the state.

[daleo]

34. Nice to hear