By Megan Rawlins
There’s no building-sized rock in Sacramento hiding 264 tons of cash – the approximate weight of the state’s budget deficit measured in $100 bills. But groups like the California Budget Project and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have published reports arguing there are smaller rocks, $100-million rocks, $1-billion rocks that can save services for some of the state’s most vulnerable populations.
In fact, according to a report CPB released June 3, the state Legislature quietly added three new corporate tax breaks in the last round of budget cuts — and just closing those loopholes could save the state up to $2.5 billion a year. The tax-law changes provide multi-million dollar tax breaks to a small nadful of the state’s largest corporations.
“Why,” Jean Ross, executive director of CBP, asked, “is the state giving away money?”