Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
August 13, 2012

By a razor-thin margin, the California Assembly passed legislation today to raise a billion dollars annually for middle-class college scholarships by altering tax law for numerous out–of-state corporations..

The measure, Assembly Bill 1500, passed 54-24, the bare-minimum two-thirds vote needed for tax or fee increases. Democrats supported the measure, as did Republicans Brian Nestande of Palm Desert and Independent Nathan Fletcher of San Diego

Assembly Speaker John A. Perez proposed the bill as a companion to his separate legislation, Assembly Bill 1501, which would spend the billion dollars raised to assist college and university students whose families earn less than $150,000 per year.

AB 1500 would require out-of-state corporations to pay income taxes based on their sales in California. Under a tax deal struck in 2009, such corporations have the option of choosing a tax obligation based on payroll and property in California as well, which can lower their tax debt.

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