PAST UPDATES
UPDATE: April 11, 2011
NEW SEVERANCE TAX BILL INTRODUCED
CALIFORNIA JOBS AGAIN AT RISK!
Scarcely a year after you helped defeat two oil severance tax bills, and less than a month after voters rejected two local severance tax ballot measures, the issue has resurfaced in the California Legislature.
AB 1326, introduced by Assemblyman Warren Furutani, proposes a new 12.5% extraction tax on oil and gas produced in California. Proceeds of the tax would be earmarked for higher education at the Community College, California State University and University of California levels.
Like its failed predecessors, AB 1326 will do nothing to solve the education funding crisis.
What it WILL do is:
•Destroy almost 10,000 California jobs.
•Increase our dependence on imported oil and gas.
• Put upward pressure on already high retail gasoline, diesel and natural gas prices.
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO DEFEAT THIS LATEST THREAT TO CALIFORNIA JOBS!
Please click here and follow the prompts to send a letter OPPOSING AB 1326.
UPDATE: 6.16.2010
ACTION ALERT!
AB 656 (Torrico) Oil Severance Tax Bill to be Heard on June 23
AB 656 (Torrico) is back in play, with its next stop the Senate Education Committee.
This 12.5% oil severance tax proposal, with the proceeds earmarked for higher education, has been working its way through the Legislative process for months. In the process it has gone from a 9.9% tax, to a 12.5% tax, to a “study” bill with no tax at all, and back to a 12.5 % severance tax.
AB 656 is one of two severance tax bills currently under consideration. The other, authored by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, was held in the Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee after a May hearing, meaning it will not move forward in the immediate future. Like the Nava bill, AB 656 would destroy almost 10,000 jobs and cost local governments millions of dollars in badly needed revenues.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of red-shirted Save Our Jobs volunteers, neither AB 656 nor AB 1604 have yet advanced to a vote on the floor of either house of the state Legislature.
Now your help is needed again.
AB 656 is scheduled for a hearing:
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23
8:30 A.M.
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
STATE CAPITOL, ROOM 4023
SACRAMENTO
If you are able, please attend this hearing, wearing your red “Save Our Jobs”
t-shirt.
Please arrive about 15-20 minutes early to get in line outside the door and assure your seat in the hearing room.
IMPORTANT: If you plan to attend please RSVP by email to: info@saveourjobs.org
Your continued engagement is critically important in reminding legislators that their actions have real-life impacts on real people, and that their decisions are being carefully watched.
Many thanks, and we hope to see you on June 23!
UPDATE: 5.10.2010
AB 1604 (Nava)
AB 1604 was heard in the Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee today, with many red-shirted Save Our Jobs activists in attendance.
AB 1604, one of two oil severance tax bills currently under consideration by the Legislature, would impose a 10 percent tax on oil produced in California. A recent study of a similar bill concluded that such a tax would destroy almost 10,000 California jobs and reduce local government revenues by millions of dollars.
After hearing lengthy testimony, the Committee voted to send the bill to “suspense,” which “parked” it for potential future action. After the regular hearing concluded, the Committee Chair announced that AB 1604 would be held in committee, which means the bill will not move forward, at least not right away.
The continued engagement of the Save Our Jobs volunteers plays a critical role in reminding legislators that their actions have real-life impacts on real people, and that their decisions will not go unnoticed.
Many thanks to all who participated, and who continue to take action to protect thousands of California jobs!
UPDATE: 4.8.2010
AB 1604 (Nava)
JOB-KILLING TAX HEADED FOR HEARING NEXT WEEK
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED!
AB 1604 (Nava), which would assess a ten percent severance tax on California oil production, is headed for the Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee on Monday, May 10. This hearing was originally scheduled for April 12 but was postponed to the new date.
This tax would mean the loss of almost 10,000 jobs and millions of dollars in local property tax revenues desperately needed to fund K-12 education and other public services as California producers cut back on in-state production and increase imports from other states. The cost of those imports would also drive up prices at the pump, according to a recent study of a similar proposal.
Revenue raised from this job-killing tax would go directly to the State’s General Fund, with no restrictions on how the politicians could spend it.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Click here to send a letter to your elected representatives TODAY.
Tell them we need to create jobs, not kill them – NO on AB 1604.
UPDATE: 4.6.2010
AB 656 (Torrico)
Severance tax REINSTATED in secretive process
Not in small part due to your participation in letting the Legislature know about the impact of AB 656 on jobs and the economy, the bill was amended in January to remove the tax and merely require an annual study of the results had the measure taken effect. In a highly unusual and non-public manner, AB 656 was quietly amended in March by the author and passed out of the Rules Committee with the 12.5 percent severance tax provision reinstated.
A new hearing date has not yet been set, but Assemblyman Torrico, as part of his campaign for California Attorney General, has been holding rallies promoting his job killing tax on college campuses statewide.
AB 656, while an oil severance tax, differs from competing bill AB 1604 in that revenues from AB 656’s 12.5 % assessment would be earmarked for higher education, while the proceeds of AB 1604’s 10% levy would go to the State’s General Fund. Both would kill jobs, increase our dependence on imported oil and reduce revenues to local governments, and neither would solve the state’s education or budget crises.
UPDATE: 3.15.2010
JOB-KILLING TAX HEADED FOR HEARING NEXT WEEK
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED!
AB 1604 (Nava), which would assess a ten percent severance tax on California oil production, is headed for the Assembly Revenue & Taxation Committee on Monday, March 22.
This tax would mean the loss of almost 10,000 jobs and millions of dollars in local property tax revenues desperately needed to fund K-12 education and other public services as California producers cut back on in-state production and increase imports from other states. The cost of those imports would also drive up prices at the pump, according to a recent study of a similar proposal.
Revenue raised from this job-killing tax would go directly to the State’s General Fund, with no restrictions on how the politicians could spend it.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Click here to send a letter to your elected representatives TODAY.
Tell them we need to create jobs, not kill them – NO on AB 1604.
UPDATE: 2.25.2010
NEW GAS TAX SCHEME POSES NEW THREAT TO JOBS
ACTION NEEDED NOW!
Having been unwilling or unable to make the tough decisions necessary to close the state’s enormous budget deficit, Legislators have come up with a new scheme that could mean significant increases in gas prices. A vote could come as early as next Monday, so your representatives need to hear from you NOW!!
SBX8 6 and ABX8 6 are identical bills that would give local government agencies the right to ask voters to approve new fees on gasoline at the pump – with only a simple majority vote. This is a clear violation of the state Constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote for tax increases.
These bills would also allow the State Board of Equalization to increase the gas tax annually if the price of gasoline goes up.
Higher taxes mean higher unemployment! Enough is enough!
TAKE ACTION NOW: Click HERE to send a message to your elected representatives TODAY – tell them to vote NO on new gas taxes. We need more jobs, not more taxes.
Red-shirted volunteers voiced their opposition to
AB 656
to the Appropriations Committee.
UPDATE 2.5.2010
THREAT OF JOB LOSS CONTINUES AS YET ANOTHER SEVERANCE TAX BILL MOVES THROUGH THE LEGISLATURE
AB 1604 (Nava) would impose a 10 percent severance tax on California oil production – a move likely to kill thousands of jobs, cost local governments millions and drive gasoline and diesel costs higher. This bill comes on the heels of a similar proposal, AB 656 (Torrico), which called for a 12.5 percent tax on in-state oil and natural gas production. The Torrico bill was significantly amended, thanks to the efforts of concerned workers throughout the state, to a “study bill” that eliminated the threat of immediate taxation in favor of continued study of the proposal’s potential impacts.
AB 1604, however, is now moving through the Legislature, with a hearing tentatively scheduled for Monday, March 8 in the Assembly Revenue and Tax Committee.
Unlike AB 656, proceeds of AB 1604 would be directed to the state’s general fund, which might make it more attractive to Legislators facing ongoing annual budget deficits in the $20 billion range.
Regardless of the proposed use of the new tax dollars, the impact on California’s workers and economy would be devastating. A study of a similar proposal projected the loss of almost 10,000 jobs and the reduction of critically needed revenues for local governments.
Proposed new taxes on oil and gasoline will kill jobs and drive gas prices higher. In some cases they could cost local governments millions a year in tax revenues, or cost local drivers millions more at the pump.
