Bill Text: CA AB1299 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 1299 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: State taxes: vote requirement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-02 - Died at Desk. [AB1299 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1299-Introduced.html

BILL NUMBER: AB 1299	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Coto

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Section 39 to the Revenue and Taxation Code,
relating to taxation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1299, as introduced, Coto. State taxes: vote requirement.
   The California Constitution provides that any changes in state
taxes enacted for the purpose of increasing revenues collected
pursuant to those taxes, whether by increased rates or changes in
methods of computation, must be imposed by a bill passed by not less
than 2/3 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Existing
law does not define the specific terms used in establishing this
vote requirement, or specify the manner in which this vote
requirement is to be applied.
   This bill would clarify the meaning of state taxes for purposes of
this constitutional vote requirement.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution
establishes a legislative two-thirds vote requirement for the passage
of certain tax bills as part of an interlocking system of tax relief
established by the voters in approving Proposition 13 at the June 6,
1978, statewide primary election.
   (b) Article XIII A of the California Constitution also includes,
among other provisions, a limit on the assessed values of real
properties and a limit on the rate of property tax to be applied to
those values.
   (c) Thus, Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California
Constitution should be read in light of the intent of the voters to
generally limit the Legislature's ability to enact increases in state
tax revenues to offset reductions in local property tax revenues.
   (d) In upholding the validity of Article XIII A of the California
Constitution, the California Supreme Court expressly recognized the
existence of ambiguous provisions in Article XIII A of the California
Constitution, and the need for legislative clarification over time
of the meaning of those provisions (Amador Valley Joint Union School
Dist. v. State Board of Equalization (1978) 22 Cal.3d 208, 244).
   (e) The courts have long recognized that the meaning of terms used
in the California Constitution may be defined or clarified by
statute.
   (f) Among the provisions of Article XIII A of the California
Constitution that warrants statutory clarification is the legislative
two-thirds vote requirement established by Section 3 of that article
for the passage of certain tax bills.
   (g) In particular, the term "state taxes," used in Section 3 of
Article XIII A of the California Constitution relative to the scope
and operation of the legislative two-thirds vote requirement set
forth in that section, has never been specifically defined or
interpreted, whether by statute or by the courts, and, as a result,
has been the source of debate for many years.
   (h) Statutory clarification of this term will facilitate a clear
and consistent application of the legislative two-thirds vote
requirement of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California
Constitution in furtherance of the purposes of that provision.
   (i) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
provide greater clarity as to the application of Section 3 of Article
XIII A of the California Constitution, and to facilitate a clear,
consistent, and reasonable implementation of those provisions.
  SEC. 2.  Section 39 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to
read:
   39.  For purposes of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California
Constitution, "state taxes" means taxes that are imposed by state
law, levied and collected by the state, and required by state law to
be deposited in the State Treasury. "State taxes" for this purpose do
not include any ad valorem property tax that is subject to Article
XIII or Article XIII A.