California lawmakers are sending to Gov. Gavin Newsom a invoice that might permit a few dozen counties and cities to hunt higher-than-usual gross sales tax will increase — and critics aren’t comfortable about two Republican leaders’ roles within the potential tax hikes.
Cities and counties can ask the Legislature for particular exceptions to cost gross sales taxes larger than a 2% cap written into state legislation. Republicans within the state legislature sometimes have opposed such payments, arguing that counties and cities must be extra fiscally conservative of their spending.
However final week in a remaining vote, the 2 Republicans main the California Meeting GOP caucus — Well being Flora (R-Ripon) and Juan Alanis (R-Modesto) — curiously voted to help the invoice to greenlight larger gross sales taxes, whilst each different Republican voted “no” or abstained from voting.
A supply with information of the scenario mentioned the vote by Flora — who had the bottom degree of voter help of any incumbent legislator within the June main — has induced critical “frustration” amongst members and GOP donors.
“We’ve been persistently against the various payments launched to extend native taxes. We’re hopeful that legislators will begin opposing these payments as a result of they’re dramatically growing the price of dwelling in California,” added David Kline of the California Taxpayers Affiliation.
“Each session there appears to be increasingly more payments to waive the two% cap. We expect that cap ought to be preserved, not deserted.”
This yr, Santa Barbara County and cities like Palo Alto and Santa Cruz need an exception to the cap to allow them to ask voters to lift taxes. Democrats argue that localities want extra funding to offset federal well being and human providers cuts.
The invoice, Senate Invoice 762, now wants yet another procedural vote from the California Senate earlier than heading to Newsom.
Notably, Flora’s and Alanis’ two votes helped the invoice clinch precisely the mandatory two-thirds majority vote it wanted to cross, given even some Democrats within the Democrat-controlled legislature shunned voting on the measure.
“Now will not be the time to lift taxes. Now could be the time to do what each struggling household, each struggling small enterprise has needed to do, tighten the belt,” mentioned Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) at a listening to final month.
The California Put up reached out to the Meeting GOP caucus for a proof on why Minority Chief Flora and Caucus Chair Alanis voted “sure.”
Flora was elected Meeting minority chief in the summertime of 2025, however has acquired criticism for not pushing again exhausting sufficient on the Democratic agenda and being too cozy with lobbyists. He forged a pivotal vote in 2017 to increase the controversial cap-and-trade program, and he recorded no vote final fall when it was prolonged once more.
Final October, Flora was discovered to have had an extra-marital affair with a lobbyist whereas considerations have been raised about whether or not he resides in his district. On account of complaints about being unresponsive to his constituents, committees for the Republican Celebration in each San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties refused to endorse Flora’s efforts this yr to obtain a remaining two-year time period in workplace.
“We’re disenchanted by our state assemblyman and listening to from constituents,” mentioned Joel Campos, chair of the Stanislaus County Republican Celebration.
He cited a scarcity of response from Flora’s workplace, a scarcity of presence within the district and, total, “a scarcity of help for Republicans.”
Flora superior to the November runoff however secured simply 30.6% of the vote, the bottom share of any incumbent legislator this previous election cycle.
Requests to blow previous the two% tax restrict have gotten extra frequent, mentioned Kline with the California Taxpayers Affiliation. One previous request got here from Los Angeles County, which simply voted to go previous the two% restrict.
California counties have a number of the highest gross sales taxes within the nation, with some areas like Lancaster and Palmdale charging whole gross sales tax charges near 12%.
“They’re getting a ton of payments to go previous the cap. It was once a strong cap, however in the previous couple of years there have been many, many exemptions,” Kline advised The Put up. “The cap isn’t doing the job it was supposed to do.”
