Calif. lawmaker quits chairmanship after tax vote

Somerville · Aug 16, 2012

At least some politicians care more about their constituents than their ideology

Calif. lawmaker quits chairmanship after tax vote

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California State Assemblyman Brian Nestande resigned Tuesday from a Republican leadership post after providing the lone GOP vote on a bill that would close a tax loophole for out-of-state corporations. The bill, AB1500, which would eliminate a $1 billion tax break and use the expected windfall to reduce college tuition, passed the Assembly on Monday without a vote to spare.

"I understood when I made the vote that I would have to step down," said Nestande, R-Palm Desert, referring to his previous position as chairman of the Assembly Republican Caucus. He and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who recently left the Republican Party to become an independent, were the only non-Democrats to vote for the bill, which closes a loophole the Legislature approved in 2009 as a way to get a handful of Republican lawmakers to vote for the state budget.

Please, please ... read the linked article before posting some righteous screed about how this is going to cause companies to leave California. It was a nasty little loophole that was harming the competitiveness of California companies.

Calif. lawmaker quits chairmanship after tax vote

Somerville