By Matthew Renda, Courthouse News
California’s battle with the Trump administration and the GOP-dominated Congress continued on multiple fronts Thursday, not the least of which involved the introduction of a bill designed to help Californians avoid repercussions from the recently passed federal tax overhaul.
The leader of the California Senate, Kevin de Leon, introduced Senate Bill 227 Thursday in a bid to outmaneuver congressional Republicans who removed federal deductions that favored high-income blue states like New York and California.
“The Republican tax plan gives corporations and hedge-fund managers a trillion-dollar tax cut and expects California taxpayers to foot the bill,” de Leon said. “We won’t allow California residents to be the casualty of this disastrous tax scheme.”
If passed and signed into law, the Protect California Taxpayers Act will allow state taxpayers to make a donation to the California Excellence Fund, which contributes funding towards higher education, and in turn, receive a dollar-for-dollar tax deduction.
In the past, if a taxpayer paid $22,000 in state taxes – the average for Californians – you could deduct the entire donation from federal taxes. Under the tax overall, that number is capped at $10,000.
Critics say the California Excellence Fund poses as a charity and that taxpayers are in effect giving money to the state government. But California would not be the only state to provide deductions for donations to higher education, even where funded by state coffers. Similar funding and deduction vehicles are in effect in Illinois, Montana, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
Even red states like Alabama, Louisiana and Arizona use similar tax incentives to fund education, and in some cases the states use it to fund private schools or vouchers.
The fund would help Californians from bearing a larger financial burden from federal taxes, according to California lawmakers.
“This legislation will protect Californians from losing money as a result of the federal tax ripoff, said state Sen. Jerry Hill, a Democrat representing Santa Clara and San Mateo. “I applaud Senate President de León for leading this effort that will help many of my constituents and residents all over the state.”
The move is not without its critics, as some fear the other nonprofits and charities who rely on tax-deductible donations might get hurt.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Sacramento also said a better way to help California taxpayers is to state taxes across the board.
“California tax code should help everyday California families to be able to live and work in our state,” said Assemblyman Vince Fong, who represents conservative Kern County.
Fong said he will introduce a bill to cut state taxes for California’s middle class and reduce taxes on small businesses.
But with a Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature, it is unlikely the Republican coalition can accomplish much.
De Leon appeared more vexed about the possibility that the Trump administration will interfere with California’s plans by supporting legislation or by executive order.
“This is the clash between the state government and the federal government,” he said in a recent interview with National Public Radio. “And we will see it soon.”
The tax overhaul is just the latest fracas in a battle between California and the federal government. Other fronts include climate change, recreational marijuana, water rights and offshore drilling.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Tweet This
Facebook
Digg This
Bookmark
Stumble
RSS
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.
24 Comments
Every other state is geting a tax break.But not california the corrupt broken system and the governor Jerry Brown are destroying the economy.Making this a sanctuary state who the hell is going to pay for this.We cant let these criminals continue to fleece our country.
Mashed up article doesn’t even make sense. Was this proof read before posting?
Horrible.
Well Randy, consider the source of this article! The state of California has taxed its residents every time they drained every dollar from every source they could tap. Funds like unemployment, disability etc. this is just another way to blame the federal gov for their socialist spending, and putting the tax burden on the backs of calif. taxpayers.
Liberal SCV articulated.
What has us down is the California Democrat tax theft of the middle class to finance the endless big government programs for every lowest common denominator the world has to offer.
Stupid article.
Because Jerry Brown “cares” about taxpayers???
In summing up the areas of conflict between CA and the Trump Admin., last sentence, this article avoids THE BIG ONE: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, declaring CA a Sanctuary State.
THAT is also championed by Kevin DeLeon, therefore anything coming from him will inevitably be opposed by the Feds — he is a liability to CA. He’s the one who said that if laws against illegal immigration were actually enforced, a large chunk of his own family would have been deported — including being prosecuted for stealing Social Security #’s.
Fong’s proposal to cut taxes on the middle class makes more sense but of course can’t pass.
It’s also inevitable that “donating” to the state to make up for the lost tax deduction will mean other genuine charities will be hurt.
We the people are caught between a war between leftist kooks like DeLeon and rightwing kooks like Sessions’ wing of the Republican party.
A donation is voluntary…so any tax $$ over $10000 can’t be forced to pay the state …so I choose not to pay any ‘donation’ to this crooked state….
Then you’ll pay anything over the $10,000 deductible to the Feds, I don’t think you understand the situation — you won’t “save” anything by spiting the state of CA if this passes, you will just pay the difference between $10,000 and $20,000.
This bill is actually proposing to copy some other states as noted to SAVE state taxpayers money.
That said, I don’t disagree that the state is “crooked” and we are way over-taxed but we’re being squeezed between the left and the right as I said above. The real “solution” is for CA and other “highly taxed blue states” like CT/ NY to CUT taxes and stop giving benefits to illegals including free education with free meals!* But that won’t happen unless we wake up and demand common sense, but first you have to understand the legislation!
*BTW how many people know that in fact illegal residents ARE ALREADY supposed to pay the cost of their children’s education, currently almost $8,000/year per student in CA, but the schools just don’t enforce it as long as the parents don’t divulge their status? They do not ASK, but IF a parent is honest and reveals their status — as my Japanese friends have — then they are hit with the bill. This education K-12 comes out of property taxes not income taxes but paying for community and state colleges does and THAT is what would benefit from this plan to “donate” the difference between 10-20K in tax deductions to the state so it could funnel that to colleges — so it’s not a bad stop-gap plan IF the state libs actually use it towards college, bridges/infrastructure, etc., not more giveaways to illegal residents.
Kalifornia has me down. The part about the tax plan that has me down is it didn’t abolish the income tax and eliminate the IRS.
California Democrats increased state and local taxes on us and are now blaming National Republicans. Can’t make this stuff up. How about cut state and local taxes to help us out you fools
That makes too much sense.
Truth.
This crooked democrats never ask me if I was ok with gas tax bill. Now they want me to donate? Can’t make this stuff up.
Get rid of them
Yeah, California just taking the taxes from the breaks the feds gave us. California tax is becoming theft.
A better plan would simply be to lower SALT’s
you and “SALT’s” is like wallace shawn saying
“inconceivable”.
amerikkka is lost……
There are no “k” in America. And is it so wrong for me to want to keep more of my own money?
Lol, good luck with that… Maybe you can get the state to fight for you in federal court ;)
SCVTV scraping the bottom of the barrel lol.
I am taxed so much that I don’t have any money left to make a donation. How about California just stop taxing the hell out of us to support all the illegals and giving out everything for free.
Again, pls. re-read the whole “logic” here and my earlier comments, not to tout my own horn but b/c I don’t want to repeat myself TM:
The “donation” is a donation in name only, not really a “donation” in that it’s a way to actually GET BACK THE MONEY THE FEDS WILL TAKE FROM YOU, THAT FORMERLY, YOU USED TO BE ABLE TO DEDUCT FROM FED TAXES. YOU CAN NO LONGER DEDUCT ANYTHING OVER $10k FROM FED TAXES, so the difference between the 10K and 20K WILL GO TO THE FEDS IN TAXES NOW.
IF you “donate,” i.e. play this tax shelter game, you will in fact still be able to deduct the difference. So refusing to “donate” to such a tax shelter which essentially is what it is, to spite the Dem’s, will cost you upto $10,000, if that’s your tax bracket.
OF COURSE as I said above, Fong’s solution to just reduce state taxes is better but not realistic, does anyone think DeLeon and his corrupt illegal-supporting Dem’s will GIVE BACK any taxes?