SACRAMENTO—Wonder why it took California lawmakers so long to pass a plan to fill the state’s $42 billion budget hole? To find one reason, look about 3,000 miles east to an office in Washington, D.C.
Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist is on a mission to sign up lawmakers across the country on a pledge to avoid tax increases—any time, for any reason.
“Serve and protect the state—not loot it,” Norquist said in an interview this week, before the state Legislature passed a midyear budget fix that included $12.8 billion in new sales, vehicle and income taxes.
Legislators are listening, in part because conservative bloggers and radio commentators such as Rush Limbaugh are feeding the flames.
Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said one in six state lawmakers across the country have signed his Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Members of Congress, governors and attorneys general also have signed it.
In California, 40 of the 44 Republican lawmakers have signed on—and most refused to break the vow even as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican, warned of “financial Armageddon” unless the two-year budget fix was approved.
He said the state’s deficit was so large it could not be closed with cuts alone and that those who advocated such an approach had “a big math problem.” Most other Republicans disagreed.
“It’s a basic philosophy,” said state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks. “I’m not voting for the budget because I signed a tax pledge; I’m not voting for the bill because raising taxes will devastate our economy for all Californians.”
The bipartisan proposal hammered out over two months of negotiations to close California’s shortfall through June 2010 includes $12.8 billion in tax hikes, such as increasing the state sales by 1 cent on the dollar, boosting the personal income tax rate and raising the fee to license a vehicle.
On Thursday, hours after the Legislature approved the budget, Norquist called the vote “a truly sad day for California taxpayers.” In a telephone interview later, he showed no sympathy for those who signed the pledge but then voted for higher taxes in the compromise plan.
“These people broke their word,” he said. “They voted for a massive tax increase and a massive spending increase.”
In fact, the plan actually reduces California’s current fiscal year spending by nearly $13 billion—from $103 billion to $90.7 billion. It also includes an even greater amount in spending cuts—about $15.1 billion, more than half of which would come from schools.
Some Democratic lawmakers see the no-tax pledge taken by their counterparts as irresponsible and an obstacle to compromise.
“That signature clearly abrogates the legislative responsibility which voters entrusted to them,” said Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat from San Francisco. “It’s as stupid as my signing a pledge that I’ll never make cuts.”
As if to underscore that point, many of those who signed Norquist’s pledge are finding they have to backpedal as the nation’s recession deepens and they are left with few options to close gaping budget deficits.
In Kentucky, for example, 17 pledge-signers in the state General Assembly last week voted for new taxes on cigarettes and alcohol to help offset the state’s $456 million shortfall. Republicans cast half the yes votes in the Republican-controlled Kentucky Senate.
Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, signed the pledge but said he expects tax increases, including a cigarette tax increase, to be part of the budget in his chamber.
He argues that rebalancing the state’s tax structure doesn’t conflict with his tax philosophy, even if Florida receives more tax revenue as a result.
“Times do offer you a chance to reflect on those issues,” Atwater said.
Republican lawmakers’ rush to sign the no-tax pledge is being fueled in part by conservatives with a big audience, such as Limbaugh. The radio host has been urging California Republican lawmakers to hold fast in their anti-tax stand.
That prompted thousands of phone calls, e-mails and faxes to legislative offices in California this week as lawmakers were in session around the clock.
The Taxpayer Protection Pledge isn’t the only thing that stalled California’s midyear budget fix. The state’s unusual requirement for a two-thirds legislative majority to approve budgets and tax increases, a threshold demanded in only two other states, was the main obstacle.
Republican lawmakers wanted more spending cuts but never offered a plan to close the $42 billion deficit solely with program cuts.
Five California GOP lawmakers ultimately broke the no-tax pledge, believing the current budget proposal is the best possible compromise, especially because it includes government reforms and breaks for businesses long sought by Republicans, California’s minority party.
They include all three Republican senators who broke ranks to vote for the compromise. Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria said he fears for his political future because he cast the deciding vote for the budget early Thursday.
“This is not about my political career. This is about the health and safety for the people of California,” said Maldonado, who has harbored ambitions for statewide office. “My friends, this might be the end for me. This ensures it’s not the end for California.”
California state Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Bakersfield Republican representing one of the state’s most conservative regions, also voted for the budget fix even though he signed the pledge.
“These are extraordinary circumstances for our country, the world and certainly for California,” Ashburn said. “I have a responsibility to the people of our state. The pledge is important. I meant it, but the circumstances require I take a look at all the solutions.”
Fueling the reluctance of other Republicans to break ranks is their future political aspirations. California Republicans who seek to run for office in the Legislature’s other house or for a statewide office must first survive a GOP primary, where anti-tax zealots and social conservatives dominate.
A Republican candidate who can be tarred by an opponent as a tax-raiser is likely to forever remain just that—a candidate.
“‘Read my lips,'” said Jack Pitney Jr., a government professor at Southern California’s Claremont McKenna College, echoing the now infamous 1988 campaign pledge made by former President George H.W. Bush. “Republicans remember what happens when you break a pledge.”
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Associated Press Writers Samantha Young in Sacramento, Bill Kaczor in Tallahassee, Fla., and Joe Biesk in Frankfort, Ky., contributed to this story.
