A small percentage of the California population receive free or subsidized health benefits as part of their employment compensation. Currently, this portion of pay is tax free. Citizens that purchase their own health benefits must do so AFTER having paid taxes on their income. This petition proposes that compensation in the form of health benefits be taxed.

All PERS jobs with salaries at $250,000 and over should not be part of this pension system. If the taxpayers are paying you that can of income, you can surely save for your own retirement and help save PERS for the underpaid employees, such as police, firefighters and teachers.

The Governor has proposed a budget that would increase the income tax by 1%, and decrease the sales tax by 1.75%. It would also increase the tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack, remove the sales tax exemption for soda and junk food, and add to the gas tax. The net result would be an expanded budget to improve transportation and education in the state, and a tax burden that is far more progressive than the high sales tax we currently have. A lower sales tax would also help businesses that border New Hampshire, which has no sales tax.

I am a 42-year-old female who has not had a job that pays a living wage in almost six years. I have a Bachelor's degree and fifteen years of administrative/clerical experience but I cannot find a job. Every day I sit at home out of work makes me feel very low and my skills are slowly ebbing away. There are many individuals like myself who through no fault of their own, find themselves considered used goods in the working world. We want to work, need to work and demand the right to work. We need more job training programs to help displaced workers like myself and others to make us more marketable in the job field.

Please do not create another tax on real estate sales of any sort.

The new NC legislature is examining the possibility of raising the sales tax to 8% in these economic times. They are using the surface appeal of no income tax to accomplish this. (Even Tennessee is considering reinstating their income tax.) This idea would only add to the burdens of the elderly, disabled, poor, and the middle class! How long would it be before the sales tax would need to be raised to 10%?

H. B. 80 is unfair taxation that will increase the annual ad valorem tax on pre-1986 vehicles. Many owners are car enthusiasts, often retirees on fixed incomes, with old hobby cars that are mostly driven to car shows or club events, so have little impact on traffic or wear and tear of roads. This proposed ad valorem tax increase is ONLY to Raise Money, not to cover any state costs, and it will affect many people who can least afford the increase. Tell the House Ways and Means Committee to STOP this bill!

It's a disservice to all taxpayers and to licensed tax preparers (EA, CPA, Tax Attorneys) not to have any regulation to ensure minimal competency in our tax practitioner community. Trained and honest preparers cannot compete with the significant amount of fraud going on out there. ANYONE (even a high school dropout or an ex-felon) can buy a copy of a tax software program at a local office supply store and be in business. The IRS can not rein this in without you calling your member of Congress.

The rate of Property Tax is over the 35% of your mortgage rate. It is an average of 75% in addition to my mortgage. Its like paying for a second home that I don't have. How can the Assesors office say one thing and the Board of Electors say something totally different when assessing my property. Something needs to be done before we have more Foreclosures. No one wants to talk about the other factor that creates the many foreclosures here in Chicago and its Suburbs....one of the other factors is the HIGH PROPERTY TAXES.

The Right to Work Laws in Arkansas need to be repealed. They are keeping the state at the bottom of the financial chain in this country. Example: My Daughter worked at Sonic Drive In Restaurant, she got paid $3.50 per hour, and any tips she got were counted towards her minimum wage. She is the only bread winner in her household, he is temporarily disabled, and the tips on top of minimum wage would help considerably. This might work in a high end establishment, but most workers don't work in such an establishment. All this does is keep the employer from having to pay minimum wage. It also gives the employer the right to fire someone without just cause. The employee can be released for ANY reason, IE; if the employer had a bad day they could fire someone on the spot for nothing that has to do with work. It's just wrong , and needs to be changed.

Sales taxes going up in Louisiana as proposed

It has been proposed that an extra mileage tax be assessed on newer more fuel efficient cars, to offset the declining revenues from gas taxes. That would be a sadly counterproductive measure, in terms of the bigger more important picture of protecting and cleaning up our environment. People who reduce their gas consumption, either through fewer miles driven, or more fuel efficient vehicles, should be rewarded for their contribution, not penalized.