Governor Gets Bill Designed to Attract Business : Printers’ Tax Exemption Wins Passage

A bill aimed at attracting a $150-million printing plant to Pacoima won final passage Friday in the state Senate on a 28-5 vote and was sent to Gov. George Deukmejian.

Under the measure, carried by Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys), printers would be exempt from paying the 6% state sales tax on catalogues and advertising brochures sent through the mail.

Robbins said that by lifting the tax, he expects Quad/Graphics, a large, Wisconsin-based printer, will locate a plant in Pacoima, which is in Robbins’ district.

Supporters, including the state Department of Commerce and the California Printing Industry Assn., contend that printers have located in Arizona and Nevada instead of California because the tax does not apply to materials printed out of state and shipped into California.

‘Special-Interest’ Tax Break

Opponents, including the California Tax Reform Assn., have branded the measure a “special-interest” tax break for a single industry.

During brief floor debate, Robbins acknowledged that the bill is substantially similar to a measure by Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) that was bottled up earlier this year in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Deukmejian vetoed a similar McClintock measure last year. But Robbins said he believes the governor will sign this bill because Deukmejian’s Commerce Department has been lobbying for it.

However, Donna Lipper, a spokeswoman for Deukmejian, said “obviously the governor needs to look at this final language” before signing the bill.

Robbins said that, if new printing plants are not under construction in California within 24 months, “I’ll author legislation to repeal this” tax break.