CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Bill Advances to End Free-Paper Tax

A proposal to repeal California’s new sales tax on free-distribution newspapers passed its first legislative committee without an opposing vote. The tax repeal bill by Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco) was sent to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on a 10-0 vote of the Revenue and Taxation Committee. Burton predicted that it will pass both the Assembly and the Senate and be signed by Gov. Pete Wilson within two weeks. The sales tax was extended to all periodicals and newspapers sold in California as part of a budget package. Free-distribution newspapers are to be taxed based on their printing costs.