SACRAMENTO A questionable attempt by Democrats to raise $9.3 billion in taxes without Republicans votes was rendered moot Thursday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ended a heated day at the State Capitol by announcing he would veto the entire plan.
"It fell short on every single level," Schwarzenegger said of the Democrats' $18 billion deficit reduction plan. "This package that they're sending down really does only one thing and this is punish the people of California."
The Democrats' plan, which relied on a legislative loophole to get through without Republican votes, cut $7.3 billion in state spending and would have resulted in a 3/4-cent sales tax increase, add 13 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas and levy a 2.5 percent "surcharge" on income tax, which will add $25 to a $1,000 income tax bill.
"We have a terrible budget that they sent down," the governor said. "So therefore I will not sign the bills."
Democrats were crestfallen after the governor's announcement. Minutes earlier the leaders of both houses had declared victory and sent their members home for the rest of the year.
"I'm extremely disappointed that he vetoed our majority vote solution," said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles. "It is the only proposal that has votes."
The "majority vote solution" that included only Democrats and offered billions in new taxes and fees. Good for the governor.
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