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Californians don't like the GOP tax plan — even many conservatives
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 30: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) talks with reporters after leaving a tax reform news conference in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill November 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. McConnell and Senate Republicans hope to pass sweeping tax cuts sometime Thursday or Friday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Californians don't like the GOP tax plan — even many conservatives
Most Californians aren't fans of the GOP tax plan.
That's according to a new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California. Sixty-two percent of likely voters oppose the plan, which calls for slashing many tax deductions, doubling the standard deduction, and significantly cutting the corporate tax rate.
Opinion was split along party lines, with 84 percent of Democrats against the tax overhaul. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans surveyed said they support the tax overhaul.
Huntington Beach registered nurse Dave Cavener said he's not one of them, even though he is conservative and generally in favor of tax cuts.
"It's expensive to live in California," Cavener said. "If I have to pay more in taxes, it's going to hurt my bottom line."
Like many Californians, Cavener was most concerned that the GOP plan calls for doing away with the state income tax deduction. The Senate plan initially aimed to also eliminate property tax deductions, but a provision to allow property tax deductions up to $10,000 was inserted Friday to win support from Maine Senator Susan Collins.
Cavener figured his federal bill could go up by thousands of dollars each year.
"Thank goodness I haven't had to talk to my tax dude yet," he said. "It's going to be such a bummer."
Ken Potiker also leans conservative on fiscal policy. He'd like to see reductions in the corporate tax rate. But the owner and president of Riteway Auto Dismantlers in Fontana said the tax plan would not help his small business.
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"They've been promoting it as an across-the-board tax cut. And this is a big tax increase for my business," Potiker said.
Only 16 percent of adults, and 20 percent of likely voters, in California said they expect to be better off under the GOP tax plan.
PPIC president Mark Baldassare said, "Californians were more likely than adults nationwide to feel that they would be worse off."
About a third of survey respondents expected to be no better or worse off under the Republican tax plan.
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