Saturday, April 14, 2012

Sign the petition. The "Millionaires Tax"


Sign the Petition. Support the “Millionaire’s Tax”.
The Basics of  The Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act.
What is it? A statewide ballot measure that asks Californians who make over $250,000 per year to pay a little bit more to invest in California after years of devastating cuts.

 Why do we need it? Since 2008, budget cuts have led to big increases in K-12 class sizes, nearly a doubling of community and state college tuition,  billions in cuts to essential services for children and seniors and severe cuts to public safety. 

The California budget has suffered huge cuts in every program; from education to universities, from child care to seniors and from public safety to programs for the disabled and needy. This year more than $4 billion in new cuts are being proposed. Without new revenue, an additional $5 billion in cuts to schools, universities and public safety will have to be made. 


What does it do?
The Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act of 2012 raises income taxes on the highest earners by 3%, with smaller increases on lower incomes. However, individuals making below $250,000 and families making below $500,000 will pay no additional income tax, so the middle class and poor are not impacted by the income tax increase. It also increases the sales tax by ¼ of 1% (still a much smaller rate than existed until July 2011).  
It begins to raise  an estimated  $6 billion to begin:
                re-hiring laid off teachers to reduce class sizes,
                restoring college classes and student services,
                restoring cuts to essential services for children, seniors, and people who are disabled,
                re-hiring laid off police, fire, and emergency responders,



Who's behind it? A coalition of educators, parents, and community groups working together to restore California's middle class. Sacramento Porgressive Alliance, California Federation of Teaches, Move on, Gov. Jerry Brown, the majority of the legislature.  See, www.ProtectSchoolsAndPublicSafety.com .
Please sign the petition.  For REGISTERED VOTERS ONLY.  Find a person circulating this petition  Or, help us to circulate it. 

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