SB 2 tax on real estate transactions exacerbates statewide housing crisis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Federation of Independent Business/California
Contact: Shawn Lewis (916) 342-9315; [email protected]
Follow: @NFIB_CA and on Facebook
Small Business Reacts to Senate Passage of SB 2 (Atkins)
SB 2 tax on real estate transactions exacerbates statewide housing crisis
SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 6, 2017 – Following the Senate passage of SB 2 (Atkins), which is listed as an NFIB “Ugly” bill, NFIB California State Executive Director Tom Scott issued the following statement on behalf of our 22,000 dues-paying small business members:
“We cannot grow our economy with good-paying jobs if we cannot retain a qualified workforce, and our housing affordability crisis is driving qualified workers out of this state every single day. Senate Bill 2 simply adds a tax to real estate transactions, which adds to the layers of costs of buying a home in the most expensive state in the nation. Our middle class cannot sustain this, and our small business job creators cannot retain their workers.
“We agree with Governor Brown’s comments in his January budget announcement when he declared, ‘We’ve got to bring down the cost structure of housing, not just subsidize it…we need to cut the red tape, and increase the stock to bring down the costs.’ We all know another taxpayer-funded subsidy is not the solution to our growing housing affordability crisis in this state.
“SB 2, if approved by the Assembly and signed by the Governor, will disproportionately impact lower and middle-class working families and will further drive thousands of Californians out of the home-buying market. We need to bring down the cost of housing in this state for the sake of struggling families and small business owners, yet SB 2 takes us in the opposite direction.”
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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
