THE LEONARD LETTERA weekly electronic newsletter about
California government, business and taxes
Bill Leonard, Member
State Board of Equalization
March 26, 2007
For Midweek updates, check out the Leonard Blog at: http://www.billleonard.org/
QUOTE OF THE WEEK“A reputation for good judgment, for fair dealing, for truth, and for rectitude, is itself a fortune.” -- Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and abolitionist
AROUND THE STATE***
Who Writes the Laws?***
For those of you who remember your civics classes, you probably feel very confident in answering that question: the legislature. I am fairly certain that the legislators currently serving agree with you. Yet anyone who read a piece in the LA Times
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last week might answer that question with this bizarre response: the Air Resources Board. And that response would be correct. The way that the federal environmental rules work, the states must comply with certain deadlines and goals for air quality. In this case, the ARB is writing laws effecting soot emissions and diesel fuel. If states do not meet those requirements, federal funding is at risk, and as the Times piece mentions, California collected $4 billion in federal transportation funding last year.
What sorts of rules does the ARB promulgate in its charge to keep California in line for this funding? High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV or carpool) lanes, for example. They are now required for any new freeway construction in the state. The Reason Foundation’s March Surface Transportation Innovations newsletter
<> offers a write-up on two HOV lane studies, but as one transportation researcher wrote to me, the study about State Route 91 misses a key fact: if we let all six lanes be used by all drivers instead of the current four mainline lanes and two HOV lanes, we could increase total freeway people throughput by 13%.
What is fascinating to me is that the requirement to build HOV lanes exists from the state ARB even though they are not proven to be either the most cost effective means of reducing congestion or helpful at all in reducing pollution. Instead, our policymaking bureaucrats have become caught up in a charade that so many of us just accept as dogma.
***
Clearing the Air***
Speaking of seeking out real facts rather than mass media-backed dogma, I encourage you to go to this site
http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/
greenhouse_data.html
It shows how much of the so-called greenhouse effect is caused by man. It concludes that only .28% is attributable to humans, if water vapor’s role is considered, or 5.53% if water vapor is ignored. The insignificance of both those numbers ought to make everyone pause when facing the interventionist, expensive, Big Brother lifestyle changes that Gore and his cronies demand of us.
I also encourage you to watch a British documentary that explores the opinions of scientists who disagree with the conclusions of many global warming studies, including ones that have included their names as experts who were “consulted” but whose contrary views were left out of the reports. The television station’s website explains that the show explains why “the present single-minded focus on reducing carbon emissions may have the unintended consequence of stifling development in the third world, prolonging endemic poverty and disease.” To learn more, go here:
http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/G/
great_global_warming_swindle/programme.html
and to watch the entire program, go to this link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-
4520665474899458831
***
Just Put Your Lips Together***
In 1993 the California Whistleblower Hot Line was reactivated to allow people to report wrongdoing on the part of state employees. The State Auditor recently issued a report about the results from calls to the hotline since that year: 262 state employees have been reprimanded, 78 have been referred for criminal prosecution, nine convicted, 73 people fired, 14 demotions, 51 pay reductions, and 22 suspensions without pay. Some of the more egregious problems identified in 2006-2007 include: a Department of Parks & Recreation employee who, over a 13-month period, made 3,300 personal telephone calls on a state cell phone; a Franchise Tax Board staffer who used his state computer to run a personal business including sending and receiving more than 560 personal business emails in a three month period; another FTB staffer who spent 495 work hours on personal phone calls (that amounted to 71% of the employee’s time at work); and a Cal Expo official who had his agency purchase his personal vehicle. If you know of a state employee who is breaking laws or misusing state resources, I encourage you to call the hotline at
(800) 952-5665.
***
Speaking of Waste***
For several years, Cal-Tax has compiled a list of articles and studies of fraud, waste and mismanagement in this state. The dollar figures uncovered are staggering and should remind the legislature of the need for them to exercise their oversight role to a greater degree than currently happens. The report can be found at:
www.caltax.org/issues/fraudwaste.html.
ISSUE FOCUS***
Class Size Debate Continues***
Another education study is out highlighted in Steve Frank's “Political News and Views” which describes class size reduction efforts as “not particularly efficient.” They mention that student achievement is pretty good in the early grades that have class size reduction programs, but that the achievement gains seem to fall away as the students go up in grade. Another way to interpret this same data is that the middle and upper grades need the same benefits of class size reduction programs as the lower grades now have.
The editorial from the Contra Costa Times laments that the deal between the Governor and the teachers’ union directs the $2.9 billion toward hiring more teachers in low performing schools. I had to ask myself: what is wrong with hiring teachers? So I read the rest of the story intently to get their opinion on what would be a higher priority for the money. The brilliant minds at this newspaper recommended: “A more effective way to use extra education money would be to concentrate on middle schools and high schools with large numbers of at-risk students.” I have no idea what this means. And if it means throwing money at these students but without hiring teachers, then I am at a greater loss.
Unfortunately, these editors are stuck along with lots of others with the early 19th model of education where Henry James and his ilk saw students as products of a factory. The factory model for education was adopted then and included mass production techniques and assembly line processes. They were wrong then and they are wrong today. Mass production of educated students still only happens one student at a time. It is time educrats learned this lesson.
***
Internet and Voting Habits***
There was an interesting survey that found 29 percent of American households have no access to the Internet and no plans to get access. It made me wonder if this is the same 29 percent of American adults who either do not register to vote or register but never actually cast a ballot. If so, then the implications are thought provoking. One implication is that if governments decide to give away Internet access for free, this population would still not use it, which would make for yet another wasteful government giveaway program.
The other implication is for candidates who will focus more and more on the 71 percent of American households with or soon-to-have Internet access. If this is the true voting population, then candidates must go where these voters congregate.
TAX TIPS
***
Frivolous Tax Excuses***
As this year’s deadline for filing personal income taxes approaches, many people express frustrations with owing money, the complexities of the forms, the difficulty in understanding the relationship of state and federal rules, and more. Some people who feel that frustration begin to seek reasons not to file or pay taxes. You may have heard the claim that paying taxes is voluntary, or that only foreign income is taxable, or that you can claim a religious exemption to paying. People who use these excuses, end up costing the rest of us law-abiding citizens a lot of money. If you are tempted by these excuses because of your tax preparation frustrations, I urge you to read the publication “The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments” from the IRS to understand the legal issues involved and the reason why people who use these reasons end up being prosecuted for tax evasion:
http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=
159932,00.html
***
Sales Tax on Marijuana***
Setting aside the moral, philosophical and legal debate about the use of medical marijuana, consider the practical dilemma that distributors of the product find themselves in. Anyone who sells a tangible personal product in California is required to obtain a state seller’s permit, collect and then submit sales tax to the Board of Equalization. Yet, the permit is clearly labeled with this warning: “NOTICE TO PERMITEE: You are required to obey all federal and state laws that regulate or control your business. This permit does not allow you to do otherwise.” Some medical marijuana dispensers do not obtain a seller’s permit because they worry about confidentiality or self-incrimination. Others obtain the permit but do not disclose the product being sold, which means the Board cannot adequately provide them with tax advice or legal requirements. Anyone who sells tangible personal property of any type can obtain information about a seller’s permit by calling the Board’s toll-free line at 1-800-400-7115.
MISCELLANY***
A Good Read***
My second grandchild was born this week (Congratulations to son Mike, daughter-in-law Vicki and newborn Gavin!) and that blessed event once again focused my mind on the challenges of raising children in today’s society. There are many influences that seek to undermine what parents teach their children and too many forces that seem intent on stripping our children of the idea that America is the greatest nation on earth, along with the incumbent responsibilities of that role. To counter such a downbeat culture milieu, I recommend “How to Raise an American: 1776 Fun and Easy Tools, Tips, and Activities to Help Your Child Love This Country” by Myrna Blyth and Chriss Winston. You will find ideas for dinner table conversations to get your children thinking about patriotic ideas, suggestions for road trips that will let you teach about the people and events that made our nation great, and even a list of all-American movies that celebrate our traditional values. This book makes a terrific present for the new parents in your family and may help cultivate a higher level of patriotism, pride and duty in the next generation.
BOE AND LEGISLATIVE DATESMarch 29, 2007 --- Spring Recess begins upon adjournment (J.R. 51(a)(2)).
March 30, 2007 --- Cesar Chavez Day.
April 2, 2007 --- Passover begins at sunset.
April 8, 2007 --- Easter.
April 9, 2007 --- Legislature reconvenes from Spring Recess. (J.R. 51(a)(2)).
April 24-25, 2007 --- Board of Equalization meets in Sacramento.
April 27, 2007 --- Last day for policy committees to hear and report fiscal bills for referral to fiscal committees (J.R. 61(a)(2)).
May 28, 2007 --- Memorial Day observed
May 31, 2007 --- Board of Equalization meets in Sacramento.
June 1, 2007 --- Board of Equalization meets in Sacramento.
NOTABLE DATES/ HISTORY
March 26, 1953 --- Dr. Jonas Salk announced that he had successfully tested a vaccine against the crippling disease polio.
March 27, 1997 --- 39 Heaven’s Gate cult members in California committed mass suicide so that, according to founder Marshall Applewhite, their souls could join the spaceship hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.
March 28, 1834 --- The U.S. Senate voted to censure President Andrew Jackson for inappropriately removed federal deposits from the Bank of the United States. This was the first censure vote of a chief executive.
March 28, 1979 --- A partial meltdown occurred in one of two pressurized water reactors at the
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
March 29, 1961 --- The 23rd Amendment was ratified, giving residents of Washington, D.C. the right to vote in presidential elections.
March 30, 1858 --- Hyman L. Lipman patented the idea of attaching an eraser to the top of a lead pencil.
March 30, 1981 --- President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest while leaving the Washington Hilton. Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head. D.C. police officer Thomas Delehanty and Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy were also shot. John Hinckley, Jr. was arrested for the shooting, found not guilty by reason of insanity and is still confined at a mental hospital.
March 31, 1774 --- British Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by passing a law closing the port of Boston. Colonists classified this as the first of the “Intolerable Acts.”
March 31, 1870 --- Thomas Peterson Mundy of New Jersey became the first black man to cast a ballot after the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave blacks the right to vote.
March 31, 1976 --- The New Jersey Supreme Court set a precedent by ruling that Karen Anne Quinlan, in a coma, could be taken off life support and “die with dignity.” Unlike Terri Schiavo she was not denied nutrients but was taken off the ventilator that was breathing for her.
April 1, 1621 --- The first peace treaty was signed between Massasoit, Chief of the Wampanoags, and John Carver, Governor of Plymouth Colony.
GENERAL TAX INFORMATIONFor answers to your general tax questions, call the Board of Equalization information center. Customer service representatives are available to help you from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Friday (except state holidays).
Toll-free number: 800-400-7115
TDD service for the hearing impaired
TDD phones: 800-735-2929
Voice phones: 800-735-2922
To reach the Taxpayer Rights Advocate’s office for assistance with any BOE issues, see http://www.boe.ca.gov/tra/tra.htm, or call toll-free 1-888-324-2798.
HOW TO CONTACT MEBill Leonard, Member
State Board of Equalization, Second District
Email: Leonard@billleonard.org
Northern California Office:400 Capitol Mall, Suite 2340
Sacramento, CA 95814
Telephone: (916) 445-2181
Fax: (916) 327-4003
Southern California Office:
4295 E. Jurupa Ave., Ste. 204
Ontario, CA 91761-1428
Telephone: (909) 937-6106
Fax: (909) 937-7044
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