California: Taxing Times in the Sanctuary State

Abstract

California passed a fairly uncontentious 2017/2018 budget as the state focused more on President Donald Trump, and on Governor Jerry Brown's ultimately successful attempt to corral the state legislature into passing a new gas tax. Legislative Democrats specifically targeted Trump's immigration policies, focusing on a bill that would make California a "sanctuary state." Meanwhile, Brown worked diligently to marshal support for the new tax, which required a two-thirds super-majority vote. Even with a largely unified Republican opposition, Democrats held together their legislative supermajority won in 2016 and approved a rare tax increase in the Golden State. They followed it by passing the budget, as well as an extension of California's cap-and-trade system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Collectively, Democratic California has positioned itself in diametric opposition to a Republican Trump Administration.