The following email was received this morning by an Orange County taxpayer and forwarded to me for posting on the Orange Juice blog. While I have written permission from the recipient to blog it I shall keep that taxpayers name confidential. That said I will now add the comment received with the authorization which states: “I hope he keeps his word about not signing anything with tax increases.”
From: governor@governor.ca.gov <governor@governor.ca.gov>
Subject: Re:tax
To:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Date: Monday, July 20, 2009, 11:00 AM
Thank you for writing to me and sharing your opposition to increasing taxes as a way to balance the budget. I appreciate your input during this difficult budget year.
In February, the members of the Legislature set aside their ideological differences and did what was best for California. We solved a $42-billion deficit with a combination of cuts and tax increases. As our economy has continued to deteriorate and with the voters’ rejection of the propositions that would have extended the tax increases, California’s revenues are much lower than we anticipated.
We are now in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. In the past 18 months, one-third of the world’s wealth has vanished. As a result of this and California’s volatile tax system, our revenues for the coming year are at least 27 percent below where they were projected to be just two short years ago. We now face a shortfall that has grown to $26.3 billion, and the people of California have made their voices clear: they want the state to live within its means and solve its problems through spending cuts and not tax increases.
As I have said before, I will not sign a budget that has tax increases. Just as California families are tightening their belts, so too must state government. I have already used my executive authority to reduce the state’s payroll, and I am also proposing to eliminate or consolidate more than a dozen state departments, boards and commissions and sell off some state-owned property. As I work with my partners in the Legislature to find solutions to these problems, know that I will keep your thoughts in mind. Working together, I believe we can weather this storm and start the slow but steady march back toward prosperity.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
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