Uneasy Rhetoric

Darrell Steinberg helped broker the deal, now his replacement in the State Assembly is coming out against it. The Business Journal reports that Assemblymember Dave Jones (D-Sactown) doesn’t like the sales tax to fund the arena. He makes an interesting tactical argument, suggesting that downstaters might not vote for the flood protection bond if we’re so unconcerned about it that we’re raising a tax for a sports team:

Jones was instrumental in placing a measure on the statewide ballot in November to raise $4.1 billion for flood protection. He asked what other voters in the state will think when they are urged to fund Sacramento’s flood protection when this area itself is trying to raise money to fund sports instead of levees.

And just in case you hadn’t heard it elsewhere, Jones reminds everyone that the sales tax is regressive, hitting lower income folks harder. I have to admit, this is something that makes me uncomfortable. Granted, a quarter of a cent doesn’t amount to much (you’d need to buy $400 worth of taxable goods just to pay an extra dollar in taxes), but in the grand scheme of things, sales taxes, when they are levied on goods as California’s is, are regressive. The food exemption helps, but not much. Poor people spend a relatively large portion of their incomes on goods. As you go up the income ladder, the amount spent on goods increases, but not nearly as fast as the amount spent on services, which are not subject to sales taxes.