California voters appear ready to make the state’s “temporary” tax on top earners permanent, even as support for a first-in-the-nation billionaire wealth tax collapses, according to a new poll released less than a week before Election Day.
uncertain
support → appear → Day
Proposition 3 would make permanent the tax rates on individuals earning more than $371,000 a year.
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rates → make → 371,000
Voters first approved them in 2012 as a temporary measure and extended them in 2016.
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Voters → approve → 2016
Fifty-eight percent of likely voters said they would vote yes after reading the ballot title and label, according to the Public Policy Institute of California survey.
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they → say → survey
Four in 10 said they would vote no.
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they → say → ?
That support has not changed.
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support → change → ?
PPIC’s September survey found the same split, 58% yes and 40% no.
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survey → find → split
Most Democrats and independents back the measure, while most Republicans oppose it.
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Republicans → back → it
Support is strongest among likely voters earning less than $40,000 (77%), those aged 18 to 34 (73%) and renters (69%).
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Support → earn → 40,000
Majorities in every region support Prop. 3, but the Central Valley is close to evenly split, with 51% yes and 48% no.
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Valley → support → %
One of the largest teachers union has bankrolled the yes campaign.
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One → bankroll → campaign
The California Teachers Association has poured $58.3 million into the campaign for Prop. 3, which helps fund public schools and community colleges.
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which → pour → schools
The union’s contributions make up 87% of the Yes on 3 campaign’s funding.
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contributions → make → funding
CTA warned of steep cuts if the measure fails.
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measure → warn → cuts
“Failing to pass Prop. 3 and extend this funding would mean an immediate 15% cut to funding for public schools and community colleges, with one in every six educators potentially losing their jobs,” the union said in a statement.
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union → pass → statement
“Prop. 3 will not raise taxes on anyone – it extends the current tax applied to couples earning more than $740,000 a year.”
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it → raise → 740,000
Opponents admit they are outgunned.
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they → admit → ?
David Kline, vice president of communications and research at the California Taxpayers Association, said the “yes” side’s huge spending made the fight “an uphill battle.”
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fight → say → Association
He said he hopes voters will reject what he called an unnecessary tax increase that would drive up the cost of living.
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that → say → living
“One of the biggest problems with Prop. 3 is that it would put a tax increase in the California Constitution five years in advance — taking effect in 2031, when the state’s finances could be dramatically different than they are today,” Kline told the California Post.
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Kline → put → Post
“Voters should leave their options open and monitor how their existing tax dollars are being spent, not rush into a premature tax increase that makes our state less competitive,” he added.
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he → leave → increase
Kline said the rates were sold as temporary taxes to address a fiscal emergency, and that emergency is over.
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emergency → say → emergency
He pointed to big gains in state revenue and record school spending as reasons to let the taxes expire on schedule.
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taxes → point → schedule
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association urged a no vote in its voter guide.
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Association → urge → guide
It said the 2012 tax was pitched as temporary “for the schools” and that this measure would make it permanent.
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it → say → schools
“California has the highest income tax rates in the nation, and every year the state has a bigger budget and a higher cost of living to show for it.
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state → have → it
Sonja Shaw, the Republican-backed candidate running to be California’s superintendent of public instruction, told the Post her answer is “Heck no.”
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answer → back → Post
“We are in the middle of a serious crisis in this state as it relates to cost of living.
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it → relate → living
Families are struggling,” Shaw said.
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Shaw → struggle → ?
“Now is not the time to raise taxes.
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time → raise → taxes
We need actual accountability and better spending discipline, not a deeper slush fund for Sacramento insiders.”
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We → need → insiders
Election Day is Nov. 3, with hundergrds of 100,00s of mail-in ballos alredady ebing processed.
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hundergrds → mail → ballos
The Aporia
