February 27, 2019
By Assemblyman Vince Fong
More stories, narratives, and studies continue to show more and more Californians are feeling more anxiety as they struggle to live and work in our state. The ruling majority — Sacramento Democrats — continue to be disconnected from this reality. Just this week, we’ve seen proposals to increase taxes and fees on soda, firearms, oil and gas, and tires — and that is just the tip of the iceberg. But when will it stop?
Just a couple years ago, Sacramento Democrats passed the largest gas tax in state history and also jacked up your vehicle registration fees, which I’m sure you noticed when you paid your most recent vehicle registration. Despite this massive and regressive tax increase that impacts lower income Californians the hardest, Sacramento Democrats immediately turned around and introduced upwards of $270 billion in tax and fee increases the following year.
Since 2011, when Governor Jerry Brown first took office, taxes have increased in California by $17.53 billion annually. It is no wonder that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation and a significant homelessness issue that is only getting worse. This is fundamentally a cost-of-living issue that has been made worse every year due to the policies passed by Sacramento.
More and more, Californians are beginning to see that they are paying way more these days and getting much less in return. Worsening traffic congestion, growing crime rates, and higher bills — there seems to be no improvement in these basic quality of life issues that we deal with each and every day.
The most egregious example is how the DMV continues to collect higher fees, while customer service and wait times have gotten significantly worse. The programs they have tried to roll out have been plagued with problems and most recently, there are reports that they may be going insolvent due to mismanagement. Yet the DMV continues to request millions more in funding every year and Sacramento Democrats are looking at proposing even higher registration fees to bail them out. This is unacceptable.
The arrogance and tone-deaf proposal by Sacramento is the biggest reason why California is becoming more and more frustrated. Regardless of your political affiliation, you should expect and demand that your state government function and deliver good customer service.
Every new legislative session, I am appalled with the sheer volume of new tax and fee increases that are introduced. I am afraid this state is becoming a place where the fortunate few who can absorb the high cost of living reside in this state. A recent survey showed that close to 60% of Californians believe their children’s future is better outside our state.
The public needs to keep Sacramento accountable by speaking out against the deluge of new taxes they continue to pass every year. The status quo of reaching deeper into your pocket, and having little public benefit to show for your hard-earned dollars needs to change.