Historic $183.2 billion budget ignores growing small business uncertainty
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Federation of Independent Business/California
Contact: Shawn Lewis (916) 342-9315; [email protected]
Follow: @NFIB_CA and on Facebook
2017-18 State Budget Offers Record Spending, Less Transparency
Historic $183.2 billion budget ignores growing small business uncertainty
SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 15, 2017 – Following the passage of the 2017-18 state budget, NFIB California State Executive Director Tom Scott issued the following statement on behalf of our 22,000 dues-paying small business members:
“At a time when small businesses across the state are seeing their budgets tighten with rising minimum wage, transportation, and health care costs, today the legislature passed yet another historic spending plan, totaling a record $183.2 billion. Although this budget continues to make important investments into our state rainy day fund, it more broadly ignores the underlying uncertainty of our small business economic engine with record spending and zero budget reforms or transparency. Small business owners and all taxpayers continue to pay more but get less in return. Most recently, Sacramento treated working families like ATMs by raising their gas and car taxes, yet we see little, if any, new spending to expand or build new roads.
“This budget also decimates many taxpayer rights by gutting the elected Board of Equalization of its authority to hear tax appeals, which will leave our small business owners no independent recourse to dispute egregious tax bills and penalties. It is very difficult to have faith in this state budget when the process has become completely polluted with trailer bills such as this which have no place in the budget, and should instead be discussed in open policy committee proceedings.”
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB has 350,000 dues-paying members nationally, with over 22,000 in California. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. To learn more visit www.NFIB.com/california
