Assembly Republicans voted down a bill today which would’ve closed a tax loophole letting those who buy yachts and aircraft avoid paying California taxes.

The Assembly voted 47-18 for SBX3-8, but because tax matters require a two-thirds vote for passage, it failed. All Assembly Democrats voted for it, while 18 Republicans voted against it and 13 more Republicans failed to vote on it despite being present at the State Capitol today.

The bill would extend from 90 days to a full year the amount of time a new yacht or aircraft bought out of state must be stored outside California in order to avoid the state’s sales and use tax. Closing the loophole would bring in an estimated $5 million this year and $21 million next year.

Some might say that’s chump change, and in the context of the state’s $146 billion budget, it’s hard to argue. But critics would argue that while payments to schools are delayed, MediCal provider reimbursements are slashed, welfare cost-of-living increases are postponed, judicial vacancies go unfilled and far more draconian measures are considered to close the state’s enormous budget deficit, why would a fiscal conservative vote to maintain ANY tax loophole for ANYBODY? It’s not about the dollar amount, it’s about the philosophy, about the message it sends to the state.

“We have just had to make serious cuts in health care and education to keep the state solvent,” Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, says in his news release. “For Assembly Republicans to then turn around and cover up for wealthy yacht owners who hide their boats so they’ll pay less tax is nothing short of reckless and callous. The fact that even some Republicans who had previously supported this measure didn’t vote for it today is particularly troubling. Instead of closing ranks Republicans should be closing the yacht loophole. Be assured this matter is not finished: closing the ‘sloophole’ will be the top item I bring up in every budget discussion before any further cuts are to be considered.”

The 18 Assembly Republicans who voted against closing the loophole are Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa; John Benoit, R-Palm Desert; Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto; Mike Duvall, R-Brea; Ted Gaines, R-Roseville; Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad; Guy Houston, R-San Ramon; Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar; Kevin Jeffries, R-Riverside; Rick Keene, R-Chico; Doug LaMalfa, R-Biggs; Bill Maze, R-Visalia; George Plescia, R-San Diego; Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach; Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita; Todd Spitzer, R-Orange; Audra Strickland, R-Camarillo; and Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel.

And the 13 Assembly Republicans who Nunez said didn’t vote on the bill despite being in the State Capitol on Tuesday are Republican Leader Mike Villines, R-Clovis; Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia; Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton; Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo; Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa; Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine; Bill Emmerson, R-Redlands; Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield; Shirley Horton, R-San Diego; Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi; Roger Niello, R-Sacramento; Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster; and Van Tran, R-Costa Mesa.

The Alameda County Republican Party has landed quite a windfall.

The California Republican Party will ante up $2,000 per month toward the cost of a county party’s executive director — a full-timer who can spearhead voter registration, get-out-the-vote campaigns, volunteer efforts and so on — so long as that county matches that amount. But campaign finance reports show the Alameda County GOP had only about $11,600 in its account as of Dec. 31.

At the county central committee’s meeting Tuesday night at party headquarters in San Leandro, Luis Buhler — the state GOP’s Bay Area vice chair — announced he’d solicited help from John Dillon, CEO of Navis, an Oakland-based supply-chain software company: Dillon will give $24,000 over two years, or half the county’s cost.

Presenting the committee with Dillon’s first check for $12,000, Buhler said Dillon made the donation because he appreciates the county GOP’s importance in two key races for 2008: the campaign to retake the 11th Congressional District seat from freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and the campaign to keep the 15th Assembly District seat — now held by Guy Houston, D-San Ramon, who’s termed out next year — in Republican hands.