Proposition 55 is a
California ballot proposition that passed on the November 8, 2016 ballot, regarding extending by twelve years the temporary personal
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
increases enacted in 2012 on earnings over $250,000, with revenues allocated to K–12 schools,
California Community Colleges
The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 secti ...
, and, in certain years, healthcare. Proposition 55 will raise tax revenue by between $4 billion and $9 billion a year.
Half of funds will go to schools and community colleges, up to $2 billion a year would go to
Medi-Cal The California Medical Assistance Program (Medi-Cal or MediCal) is California's Medicaid program serving low-income individuals, including families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, pregnant women, and childless adults w ...
, and up to $1.5 billion will be saved and applied to debt.
[
]
History
California voters passed temporary sales and income tax increases with Proposition 30 in 2012.[ Since the 2012 tax increase, California's tax revenues have grown by nearly 30%, with roughly two thirds of the money going to schools.][
Proposition 55 allowed the sales tax increase to expire as planned, while maintaining the increased income tax rates and extended them through 2030.][ Governor ]Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of ...
, who was the primary proponent of the tax increase in 2012, remained neutral on Proposition 55.
Campaigning
Proponents spent $58.6 million fighting for the measure, with the top donor being $25 million from a hospital trade association.[ An additional $20 million was donated by the California Teachers Association, with other top donors including the ]Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
, and the California School Employees Association.[ The measure was supported by the editorial boards of '' The Sacramento Bee'' and '']The Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
''.
Opponents spent $3,000 fighting against the measure.[ The ]California Chamber of Commerce
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, who were neutral on the 2012 tax increase, opposed Proposition 55.[ The measure was opposed by the editorial boards of the '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', the ''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'', and ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''.[
]
Results
A September 2016 poll by the Public Policy Institute of California
The Public Policy Institute of California is an independent, non-profit research institution. Based in San Francisco, California, the institute was established in 1994 by Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard, Roger Heyns, and Arjay Miller, with a $7 ...
showed that 54% of likely voters supported Proposition 55, 38% opposed it, and 8% did not know how they would vote.
Proposition 55 was approved by voters in the November general election, with 63% voting yes.
References
External links
Yes on 55 - Californians for Budget Stability
No on Proposition 55
Proposition 55 Would Extend Prop 30 Income Taxes to Fund Schools, Health Care
Discussion on Forum (KQED)
''Forum'' is a two-hour live call-in radio program produced by KQED-FM, presenting discussions of local, state, national and international issues, and in-depth interviews. The program began in 1990 as a politics-oriented talk show, created and ho ...
2016 California ballot propositions
Taxation in California
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