Years of overtaxation and overregulation have given California the second highest unemployment rate in the nation. Even so some of our state lawmakers still believe that punishing success is a recipe for job growth.

Efforts by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and other Democrat legislators to increase taxes on high income earners will actually punish California job creators and worsen volatile state revenues.

According to the Tax Foundation, California already has the third highest income tax rate and one of the most progressive tax structures in the nation. The top one percent of California’s income earners have incomes of $500,000 or more per year and pay up to 50% of all income tax revenues received by the state each year, according to a report by the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The battle cry to ‘tax the rich’ is really code for taxing California’s job creators, including many small businesses that are struggling to survive. Rather than help California’s budget, higher taxes will reduce revenues and drive even more job creators out of our state or out of business.

The Tax Foundation also… Read More