How Do We Fix California’s Budget Deficit?
Recent California budget forecasts seem grim, with experts predicting multibillion dollar deficits for years to come. Governor Gavin Newsom largely blames Trump for the rise in predicted deficits, yet insists on keeping tax breaks for billionaires and corporations in the budget while cutting MediCal. Prospects are dour, with experts predicting stagnating job growth and continued high unemployment rates. These predictions will likely come true, but there is a solution, just one that elected officials are reluctant to take: taxing billionaires and corporations.
It is now more important than ever to find new sources of revenue for California’s budget. One revenue source that often goes overlooked is corporate property taxes. Reforming Proposition 13 and closing the loophole that allows corporations to pay greatly reduced property taxes would restore $17 billion every single year to our local governments. That would help us insulate California’s budget process from the whims of the federal government, allowing California to stabilize its budget system without cutting essential programs and services. Proposition 13 reform is not just a possibility, it is a necessity in the current economic climate.
Fred Greaves / CalMatters
Newsom blames California’s worsening state budget outlook on Trump’s tariffs
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