Kate Wing's Blog
Taxes? Sign me up!
January 11, 2008
Posted by Kate Wing in Reviving the World's Oceans , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Of our Governor's movies, "True Lies" is a favorite of mine because it comments on the way death happens off screen in so many action movies. Extras get plugged and fall out of the frame, presumably dying quietly in some easy-to-clean area. I think about this at State Budget time, because the real impacts of cuts that seem tiny (if you can even see them) are often just a little ways in the distance, out of sight, but very, very real.
Not that some of the cuts aren't big headliners, like the decision to close 48 state parks and take seasonal employees off 16 beaches. For the beaches, that means few or no lifeguards, maintenance workers, and folks testing for water quality; for the parks that means a lock on the gate. The LA Times is suggesting that the park closure is a way to get the public hopping mad and drive a tax increase, but Schwarzenegger and the Republicans in the legislature say no way, no how, no new taxes.
So, I'd like to take a moment and speak in favor of taxes. I like my taxes just fine. I like them when I breathe and don't keel over from air pollution, I like having roads to drive on and water that comes out of my tap, and I like that if I think the government is messing up my taxes, I can get that info with a FOIA request, vote someone out of office, or sue. Not always an option with corporations. The world outside your door is a public world, a public resource, and a public good. As a member of the public, I'm proud to pay to protect it and keep it open.
Which is the reason I wish California were more like Missouri. Back in 1977, the state passed a 1/8th of one percent sales tax to fund the Department of Conservation. In 2006, that raised $99 million for land and water conservation programs and hunting and fishing activities, which is about the same amount as California's Department of Fish & Game received from the General Fund in 2006-7. Missouri is raising as much money from the general public as California is, with only 16% of California's population. And I'm not including fees from licenses or permits for either state, which make up the rest of their conservation budgets.
We'll be fighting over "budget dust" soon, as we call these 10% and 13% cuts that seem small by comparison to the whole budget, but in reality equal whole programs and parks. It would be nice if we could think bigger, about growing the pie instead of scraping by on crumbs, but it doesn't look like that will happen this year.
(bookmark or email this entry)
