STATE : Assembly Panel OKs 1/4-Cent Sales Tax Hike for Quake Aid
An Assembly committee today speedily approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase to finance the state’s share of earthquake relief efforts, as lawmakers convened in the Capitol in a special legislative session.
The Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee approved the bill by Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos) which would raise about $800 million from the 13-month tax increase beginning Dec. 1. The bill was sent to the Ways and Means Committee on a 7-1 vote.
The committee, along with a dozen other panels from both houses, met in the Capitol in an atmosphere of confusion as lawmakers scrambled from hearing to hearing and considered hastily introduced bills.
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