How Sacramento Taxes You Without Passing New Taxes
Lawmakers never seem to run out of great ideas they want to implement. The challenge is finding the money to fund them. New taxes need to be approved by a vote of the people and there are few politicians that want to stand in front of that oncoming train.
It should come as no surprise, however, that crafty legislators have found ways around this conundrum. In the latest installment of CRPA TV, host Kevin Small welcomes back CRPA Legislative Director Rick Travis to talk about one of the most common strategies: “state mandated local programs”.
State legislators come up with fabulous ideas to save the world, make them law, and foist the responsibility (read: cost) on to cities, counties, and other local agencies to carry them out. Local elected officials then must figure out how to find the resources to implement those mandates, often through cutting of other local services (e.g. road maintenance, libraries, etc) or imposing their own new fees and taxes. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Sacramento maintain a distance from the fallout. Clever, huh?
Check out this insightful video to watch Rick break down the mechanics of this stratagem and how this impact the 2A community.