Sacramento, California - In order to maintain California’s fiscal stability and keep the state’s budget balanced, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that he has vetoed a package of bills that would have created new tax breaks or expanded existing tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Each of these bills creates a new tax break or expands an existing tax break. In total, these bills would reduce revenues by about $300 million through 2017-18,” said Governor Brown in his veto message. “As I said last year, tax breaks are the same as new spending – they both cost the General Fund money. As such, they must be considered during budget deliberations so that all spending proposals are weighed against each other at the same time. This is even more important when the state’s budget remains precariously balanced. Therefore, I cannot sign these measures.”
The Governor vetoed the following bills today:
- AB 717 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Sales and use taxes: exemption: diapers.
- AB 724 by Assemblymember Bill Dodd (D-Napa) – Sales and use taxes: exemption: museum displays: Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum Education Foundation.
- AB 1561 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) – Sales and use taxes: exemption: sanitary napkins: tampons: menstrual sponges and menstrual cups.
- AB 2127 by Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) – Taxation: motor vehicle fuel: use fuel: alcohol fuels.
- AB 2728 by Assemblymember Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) – Insurance: community development investments.
- SB 898 by Senator Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove) – Sales and use taxes: exemption: animal blood.
- SB 907 by Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) – Personal income taxes: gross income exclusion: mortgage debt forgiveness.
When Governor Brown took office in 2011, the state faced a massive $26.6 billion budget deficit and estimated annual shortfalls of roughly $20 billion. Since then, the state has eliminated these deficits with billions of dollars in cuts, an improving economy and new temporary revenue approved by California voters. Voters also approved Proposition 2 to establish a Rainy Day Fund and the state is now saving billions of dollars to help prepare for the next economic downturn.