Dear Friends:

On April 20, working Californians can start earning money for themselves instead of giving it to government.  Known as Tax Freedom Day, taxpayers will have worked a whopping 110 days this year earning just enough to pay off their federal, state and local taxes.

The non-partisan Tax Foundation calculates Tax Freedom Day each year for the nation and each state.  According to the Foundation, Tax Freedom Day is a “calendar-based illustration of government’s cost, and it gives Americans an easy way to gauge the overall tax take.”

It assumes that the nation starts working on January 1, earning the same amount each day and spending nothing other than paying taxes.  Tax Freedom Day “arrives” when citizens have earned enough to pay all of their taxes.  Californians pay more taxes than the average American, given that our state Tax Freedom Day is three days later than the national day of April 17.

In fact, California’s Tax Freedom Day this year could have been much later if my Republican colleagues and I did not kill Governor Brown’s $58 billion tax increase last year.  Stopping the Governor’s tax increase saved the average California family roughly $1,000 in tax relief.  As a result, the economy and tax revenue grew by $8.4 billion last year.  This year, it will grow another $4.5 billion.

Yet the Governor is trying to raise taxes again this year in the name of protecting education.  However, budgets are about priorities and we can protect education without raising taxes.  In fact Republicans recently proposed our “Roadmap to Protect Classrooms and Taxpayers” that would avoid the Governor’s “trigger” cuts should his taxes fail.  Our roadmap shows that by making cuts in other areas and using budget solutions proposed by non-partisan sources, we can balance the budget without jeopardizing classroom funding.

Californians should not have to work even harder for a government that always asks for more.  Working for the government 110 days each year should be more than enough – and no one should be asked to work more than they should to maintain the failed status quo. We don’t need more spending, we need smarter spending.