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Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog:
Friday, January 23, 2009
Hello, Arnold? About That Fido Fine ...
By Marilyn Iturri
Editor of VeterinaryPracticeNews.com and Veterinary Practice News
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Maybe you’re wondering what ever happened to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to raise the state sales tax rate and extend it to veterinary services.
The proposal is still on the table, but it has yet to be addressed. The governor made the proposal the first week of November as the Legislature faced a looming $40 billion deficit by the middle of 2010.
California already has the highest state income-tax rate, the highest sales tax (at 7.25 percent, which counties may then add to) and the highest gas taxes in the entire country. The governor proposes a temporary (yeah, right) 1.5 percent sales tax increase and extending the tax to veterinary services, in addition to things such as sporting events.
Many of us believe that taxing vet services is a bad way to go about solving the problems that our elected leaders have gotten us into.
Schwarzenegger replaced the recalled Gov. Gray Davis by proclaiming the state didn’t have a revenue problem but a spending problem, vowing to set things straight.
We’re still waiting.
The Democrats in the Legislature want to impose new taxes to make up the shortfall, and the Republicans want to impose cuts to reach the goal. They don’t want to play ball.
In the meantime, though, the state has developed a revenue problem. Income from all sorts of taxes has dropped as people have lost jobs and stopped making big purchases. This has made the annual budget free-for-all more problematic than usual.
Over the holidays, the Dems tried to pass a budget imposing new fees – not “taxes,” mind you, because those have to be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature. Schwarzenegger vetoed the scheme.
So here we are in the middle of January, still waiting, still watching that tax proposal.
Now the Humane Society of the U.S. has stepped into the fray, urging Californians to call the governor and voice objection to what it calls the Fido Fine.
I don’t always agree with HSUS, but it’s hard to find fault with this request. This appeal appears over the signature of Mike Markarian, executive vice president of the HSUS. Here’s his advice:
“Please make a brief, polite phone call to Gov. Schwarzenegger at 916-445-2841 to urge him to drop the Fido Fine from the 2009-2010 budget proposal. When you call, [follow the prompts] to leave your opinion on this issue. Remember to be polite and professional, and leave your name and address so it is clear that you are a California resident.”
He then advises Californians to e-mail or call their state assembly representatives and state senators.
Don’t forget to make that call. I just did.
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Hello, Arnold? About That Fido Fine ...
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