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- NATION, Page 33Why Governors Are Squawking
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- NEW JERSEY
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- Raised state income and sales taxes $2.8 billion
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- Democratic Governor Jim Florio already has a taxpayer revolt
- on his hands. More than 500,000 voters have signed a petition
- calling for a rollback of the hikes imposed in June, and
- IMPEACH FLORIO bumper stickers are sprouting. Limiting federal
- deductions for state levies to $10,000 a year would hit more
- than 48,000 residents with an average $5,400 in additional
- taxes and could further undermine Florio's progressive tax
- reforms.
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- CALIFORNIA
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- Adopted a budget-balancing plan that includes $843 million
- in new taxes
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- Late last month Republican Governor George Deukmejian and
- the Democratic-controlled legislature reached a compromise that
- balances the state's $55 billion budget by reducing social
- spending $2.3 billion. Limiting state and local tax deductions
- to $10,000 would affect only 224,000 people, most of whom earn
- more than $200,000. But it could derail a movement by
- Democratic legislators to raise $2 billion by increasing the top
- income tax rate.
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- MASSACHUSETTS
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- Passed a $1.2 billion increase in state sales taxes
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- Only a week after Governor Michael Dukakis signed a law
- extending the 5% sales tax to 594 service industries,
- legislators tried to rescind it. To make up for a resulting
- shortfall of over $250 million in the $13.4 billion budget, a
- 4% cut in most government services was put into effect.
- Although only 1.5% of taxpayers would be affected by limiting
- federal deductions to $10,000, it would devastate a state
- struggling with its largest tax hike ever.
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