Go Bar Hopping…for the Sake of California's Disabled
Golden State lawmaker proposes nickel tax on mixed drinks to fund disability programs.
From the Twitter feed of Like a Libertarian comes word of a novel (read: disturbing) new tax idea:
A California lawmaker is blending a five-cent-a-drink tax on cocktails into the hectic end-of-session legislative push.
Angered by a budget deal they see as cutting out disabled Californians, advocates have been pushing lawmakers to better fund services. Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, is hoping the extra revenue can pour into state coffers from martini, margarita and Manhattan glasses.
"I've been aware for a while now that compared to other states our alcohol taxes are abysmally low," Bonilla said, arguing that cocktails are optional luxury items. "I was really looking for a way to fund disabilities services that wouldn't involve a regressive tax."…
Any bill imposing a new tax requires a two-thirds vote and thus long-shot Republican support. The minority party has already roundly rejected new taxes and fees to fund transportation infrastructure and other healthcare needs, but Bonilla said her legislation will serve in part to ensure the disabled aren't left out of the discussion.
"I think most people in California don't realize there's a crisis," Bonilla said, but amid the debate about boosting Medi-Cal reimbursement rates or taxing managed healthcare plans, "no one has really focused on the fact that we have a statutory obligation to fund these services."
And a quick note about California's Republicans holding up progress by withholding "long-shot" support: That's utter bullshit.
As Matt Welch noted a few years back, California is a one-party state, with Democrats not only holding all state-wide offices but commanding leads in both houses of the state legislature. There is nothing going on in California that can plausibly be blamed on Republicans anymore. If Jerry Brown's California has trouble funding any given thing, it's because of the legislative and fiscal priorities he and his Democratic Party have set.
The budget "crisis" in California now rests solely in their hands.