California GOP leaders questioned for oddly backing Dems green light of local sales tax hikes

California lawmakers are sending to Gov.Gavin Newsom a bill that would allow about a dozen counties and cities to seek higher-than-usual sales tax increases — and critics aren’t happy about two Republican leaders’ roles in the potential tax hikes.Cities and counties can ask the Legislature for special exceptions to charge sales taxes higher than a 2% cap written into state law.

Republicans in the state legislature typically have opposed such bills, arguing that counties and cities need to be more fiscally conservative in their spending.But last week in a final vote, the two Republicans leading the California Assembly GOP caucus — Health Flora (R-Ripon) and Juan Alanis (R-Modesto) — curiously voted to support the bill to greenlight higher sales taxes, even as every other Republican voted “no” or abstained from voting.A source with knowledge of the situation said the vote by Flora — who had the lowest level of voter support of any incumbent legislator in the June primary — has caused serious “frustration” amongst members and GOP donors. “We have been consistently opposed to the many bills introduced to increase local taxes.

We are hopeful that legislators will start opposing these bills because they are dramatically increasing the cost of living in California,” added David Kline of the California Taxpayers Association.“Every session there seems to be more and more bills to waive the 2% cap.

We think that cap should be preserved, not abandoned.”This year, Santa Barbara County and cities like Palo Alto and Santa Cruz want an exception to the cap so they can ask voters to raise taxes.Democrats argue that localities need more funding to offset federal health and human services cuts.The bill, Senate Bill 762, now needs one more procedural vote from the California Senate before heading to Newsom.Notably, Flora’s and Alanis’ two votes helped the bill clinch exactly the necessary two-thirds majority vote it needed to pass, given even som...