Broad Coalition Calls on Legislature to Repeal Corporate Tax Giveaways Before Making Any Additional Cuts to Vital Services
More than 70 groups representing millions of Californians join to demand more than $2.5 Billion in corporate tax breaks are shut down
A broad coalition of more than 70 groups joined the California Labor Federation today in demanding that the Governor and Legislature repeal more than $2.5 billion in yearly corporate tax breaks before making any additional cuts to education, public safety and other vital services for California families.
In a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger and Democratic and Republican leaders of the legislature, the coalition said with the state facing an unprecedented budget crisis, corporations must share the pain with working families.
“This is an issue of basic fairness,” said California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski. “Not one additional dollar should be taken from education, services for children, seniors and the disabled or public safety until these unnecessary tax giveaways to wealthy corporations are shut down.”
The coalition, which includes labor, environmental, health care, community and civil rights groups, said the Governor and Legislature must use every available dollar to avert catastrophic cuts being considered that would decimate important services California families depend upon. The corporate tax breaks, which include the elective single sales factor, were passed at the behest of Republican legislative leaders as part of the February budget deal.
“These times are challenging”, the letter states. “We understand that you face tough choices. But you do have choices. The $2.5 billion in unnecessary corporate tax giveaways could be used instead to help keep teachers in the classroom, public safety personnel on duty, infrastructure projects moving, and our treasured state parks open. It would mean fewer of our most vulnerable citizens – children, seniors and the disabled – go without the services they desperately need.”
The letter further says that the corporate tax breaks won’t help most businesses or families and actually hinder the state’s economic recovery by taking precious funds away from programs that create jobs and benefit local communities.
The corporate tax cuts “not only weaken our state in the current crisis, they will create a bigger budget gap in future years,” the letter states. “And these tax giveaways do nothing to help create jobs or soften the economic blow so many families are facing.”
Click here to view the full letter and list of organizations signed on.
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