As Gov. Jerry Brown issues his May budget revision Monday, an East Bay lawmaker will be renewing her call for a tax increase on California’s richest residents.
Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, has scheduled a news conference for Monday morning outside the state office building on Oakland’s Clay Street to discuss her AB 1130, which faces its first hearing in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee later in the afternoon.
Skinner says AB 1130 would raise $2.3 billion a year to help close California’s budget deficit, reducing the need to further cut schools and essential services. The bill imposes a 1 percent tax increase on California’s wealthiest, those with incomes above $500,000 a year – a return to the marginal tax rates in place when Republicans Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson served as governor.
Scheduled to join Skinner at her event are UC Berkeley Labor Center Chairman Ken Jacobs; members of the California Federation of Teachers; and a special guest described as “Millionaire in Top Hat.” (Think “Monopoly.”)