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Contributors
Bill Leonard - Contributor
Bill Leonard is a Member of the State Board of Equalization
 A
Week Under the Dome...
NetFile, Cigarettes, Lawyers, CPR, under God...
[Bill Leonard] 4/6/04
TAX TIPS
Free NetFile Service
If you are getting
nervous because the April 15 deadline for filing income taxes
is quickly approaching, consider this time-
and cost- saving option. The Franchise Tax Board’s NetFile
program is designed to allow millions of Californians to e-file
their returns for free. Returns go directly to the FTB, and the
system is easy to use. When you file your return using NetFile,
you can get a fast refund or choose to pay the amount you owe
electronically. FTB will give you confirmation that your return
was filed and keep only the final return information you file.
To use this system, you must be filing a 2003 California personal
income tax return and have been a California resident for all
of 2003. There are some other qualifications, which you can read
at NetFile qualifications. To learn more, see http://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/netFile/index.html.
For those who use this service I would be interested in hearing
any critique you might have.
Another April 15 Deadline
As if the income
tax deadline on April 15th is not consuming enough, wholesalers,
distributors and retailers also face that
day as the deadline for obtaining a license to sell cigarette
or tobacco products in California. If you are wholesaler, distributor
or retailer of tobacco products and have not received an application
for each location where you will be selling those products this
year, contact the BOE information center at 1-800-400-7115 and
select the “Cigarette and Tobacco Program” option.
If you have received your application, be sure to return it by
the deadline. The new law requiring these licenses carries penalties
for noncompliance, including restrictions on sale of tobacco
or cigarettes and criminal prosecution. UNDER THE DOME
Serving
Lawyers at Taxpayers’ Expense
There is a proposal
before the Legislature seeking to create a new state Tax Court
that would hear tax appeals rather than
the Board of Equalization (BoE). Currently, any taxpayer can
come before the Board of Equalization and present their point
of view -- with or without an attorney-- because the process
is fairly informal. Taxpayers do not have to familiarize themselves
with legal jargon or worry that there is secret code of conduct
when coming before the Board. The state Tax Court idea, however,
is modeled on the United States Tax Court and the procedural
rules for that body cover more than 200 pages. The table of contents
for this document is larger than the BoE’s entire Rules
of Practice. I submit that the average California taxpayer would
not fare well before such a body without a highly trained and
expensive attorney. I also disagree with having five attorneys
appointed by the Governor take the place of the Constitutionally-mandated
and voter-elected Board. The last thing this Legislature needs
to do is pass another Full Employment for Lawyers Act. This bill
should be killed in its very first committee.
CPR II
Last week I began
a profile of the Governor’s ambitious
California Performance Review. The first phase of the project
is a review of and recommendations for restructuring the executive
branch. I expect the Governor will make a separate announcement
about this aspect of the project, probably when the legislature
returns from its spring break next week. The second charge to
the project, which I will discuss today, is Program Performance
Assessment and Budgeting. When the state budget is proposed and
debated every year, there are rarely significant changes from
the prior year. That is because the prior year’s budget
becomes the baseline for the following year, adding to the cycle
of growth in spending that has gotten us in this upside-down
mess. Instead of assuming that any particular program is functioning
well and deserving of growth, the services provided should be
evaluated regularly. CPR intends to undertake detailed and rigorous
assessments, focusing on priorities, return on program investment
and effective program management. The state will then be able
to make program elimination and or modification decisions and
budget choices based on these evaluations, rather than on raw
emotion or political demagoguery. Of course, the first step to
such an open process is discovering the true costs of programs.
Once we determine those costs and link them to actual services
provided, we will also be able to compare our programs with those
in other states. The goal, CPR says, is to make the state’s
budget process into a management tool rather than just a financial
exercise.
If Governor Schwarzenegger can accomplish even a portion of
this ambitious agenda he will have advanced responsible fiscal
management beyond what any other Governor has been able to do.
Living Under God
The Pledge of Allegiance
lawsuit has brought forward a number of opinions about God
in American history. Even though I very
much disagree with the atheist who brought the lawsuit, I find
myself stunned at the report of the questions he received by
one of our U.S. Supreme Court Justices. The Justice made the
point that the words "under God" might be so devoid
of religious significance that they fail to cross any line be
church and state. I actually agree with the atheist that the
words "under God" are filled with meaning, and not,
as the Supreme Court Justice intimated, that they have become
simply a vacuous recitation. The reason they do not violate the
Constitution is because they do not establish a state church;
rather they acknowledge the fact that our nation was founded
on divine principles and our leaders and our people have called
upon God to bless this nation. My prayer is that whatever happens
in this court case, our Justices will figure out that "under
God" is filled with power and blessings. AROUND THE STATE
End Run on the Legislature
Among the handful
of reasons commonly cited for our dysfunctional legislature
is the huge number of noncompetitive districts. Current
law requires that after each census, the legislature redraw the
boundaries of Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts
so that they are balanced by population. However, legislators
drawing their own district lines take into consideration much
more than population and have produced districts that leave legislators
virtually unaccountable to the voters. Right now, there are about
2-4 competitive seats out of 40 in the Senate and 4-8 unsafe
seats of the Assembly’s 80.
When I served in the legislature, I introduced a law to change
this process and allow an impartial panel of retired judges draw
the boundaries. I believed their intentions would be less political
and, therefore, result in more competitive seats. More competitive
seats mean legislators who are more in touch with the people
and better incentivized to do good work. I am pleased that my
law, which for obvious reasons was not passed by the legislature,
has now been introduced as an initiative.
Petitions are currently circulating to take the henhouse (redistricting
process) away from the foxes under the dome. As a former fox,
I can testify that the efforts spent to draw safe districts can
be all consuming. I encourage you to order petitions and sign
them, sending yet another signal to the state capitol that you
demand a change in politics as usual. Visit www.fairdistrictsnow.com
Strengthening
Megan’s
Law
Another ballot measure
worthy of your signature is the Sexual Predator Punishment
and Megan’s Law Expansion Act. Megan’s
Law, as authored by my Chief Deputy Barbara Alby when she was
in the legislature, took an important step in creating a database
of criminals who prey on children. However, that database is
currently of limited use because it is not available widely enough.
This measure would disclose key information about “high
risk” sex offenders on a website maintained by the Department
of Justice. It would increase treatment required before sexual
predators can be paroled, increase penalties for child pornography
and exploitation, and require electronic monitoring of paroled
sex offenders.
This measure needs about 600,000 signatures by April 15 to qualify
for the November ballot. Please do your part by visiting www.projectkidsafe.org to order your petitions today. CRO
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