California Dems propose surcharge on businesses to fund social programs

Democratic lawmakers in California's state capital have sought ways to compensate for the loss of state revenue under the GOP tax overhaul. (capitalmuseum.gov)

Lawmakers from California have proposed a bill that would compel companies making more than $1 million to turn over half their tax-cut savings to the state in order to fund programs that support low-income and middle-class families.

Assembly members Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, have proposed an Assembly Constitutional Amendment that would enact a tax surcharge on California companies, in order to help people who have been negatively affected by the GOP’s tax overhaul, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Critics of the tax overhaul have argued that a tax-heavy state like California will be hurt by declining revenues that pay for social programs, the Chronicle reported. The tax surcharge is a way of compensating for an anticipated loss in state revenue.

“Trump’s tax reform plan was nothing more than a middle-class tax increase,” Ting said in a statement. “It is unconscionable to force working families to pay the price for tax breaks and loopholes benefiting corporations and wealthy individuals. This bill will help blunt the impact of the federal tax plan on everyday Californians by protecting funding for education, affordable health care, and other core priorities.”

In order to pass, the bill needs approval from two-thirds of the California Legislature – from which the Democrats have recently lost their supermajority, the Chronicle reported. From there, the bill would be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown before going to the voters for final approval.

Click here for more from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Kevin McCarty’s name as McCarthy.