tax
Governor Schwarzenegger kicked off his campaign for a package of ballot measures he claims are necessary to fix the state’s budget woes. The measures, which will appear on a special May 19th ballot, will both cap spending and increase taxes.
Â
Tim Eyman, an activist in Washington State, just sent out an email announcing his legal victory of Initiative 960, requiring the state legislature to have a 2/3 majority vote in order to increase taxes. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected challenges to I-960.
Many times initiatives which have passed at the ballot box are challenged in the court system. In this case, Mr. Eyman won the challenge and the taxpayer protection initiative will stand. He writes:
OLYMPIA, Wash. — As lawmakers chop their way out of an estimated $8 billion budget deficit, voices in the Democratic majority’s political base are crying out for higher taxes to save favorite state services.
So where’s the money? One place to look is the so-called “shopping list,” a state Revenue Department compilation of possible sources of additional money for the state.
Not satisfied with the city’s response to its petition drive, citizen group Glosta Tea Party filed a lawsuit against Gloucester officials on Friday, Feb. 6 asking for a suspension of the tax incentive plan brokered between the city and developers of Gloucester Crossing.
A hearing set for Tuesday, Feb. 10, in Salem’s Essex Superior Court was delayed until March 18 after the city requested more time to prepare its case.
Jamie O’Hara, a lead organizer of Glosta Tea Party, said his group was caught off guard by the city’s move.
An attorney for Dallas Right to Vote, an organization backed by New York City-based labor union Unite Here, says the group will on Thursday submit about 30,000 petition signatures to Dallas City Hall in hopes of triggering a public referendum on whether to require city subsidies of $1 million or more to face a public vote.
Five hundred registered Dallas voters would have to sign a petition to trigger a citywide vote on such public subsidies, according to the text of Dallas Right to Vote’s proposal.
A judge this week rejected a lawsuit that aimed to stop two tax-lowering ballot initiatives in the Mehlville Fire Protection District.
Mehlville resident Dennis Skelton sued the district’s board of directors, claiming the ballot measures were illegal.
The board of directors voted Jan. 23 to place two measures on the ballot for the April 7 election.
DENVER ”¢ If Coloradans were hoping for a quiet campaign season after last fall’s record number of ballot measures, they may be in for a disappointment. A potential ballot measure is in the works that could be labeled “Son of Referendum C.”
House Majority Leader Paul Weissman, D-Louisville, is promising to introduce a referendum in late February that could extend Referendum C indefinitely. Referendum C, passed by voters in 2005, allowed the state to keep more than $5 billion in taxes that otherwise would have been refunded to residents.