Tax plan from governor should stand alone on ballot

A recent Field Poll indicates that California voters approve two of the three tax measures proposed for the November ballot. That suggests people realize that enough cutting has been done, and now it’s time to increase revenue.

That’s good news, for now. But it’s easy to imagine a “no” campaign lumping these three tax measures together and successfully convincing voters to rebel and kill them all.

Of the three measures, Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax proposal would raise income taxes on Californians earning at least $250,000 annually, increase the sales tax by a half cent and expire at the end of 2016. The so-called “Millionaires Tax” would increase income taxes on Californians earning more than $1 million annually. And the third initiative, sponsored by wealthy Los Angeles attorney Molly Munger, would increase income-tax rates on a sliding scale, starting with individuals earning $7,316 in taxable income.

We wish there was just one tax measure on the ballot, one proposition we could all unite around. As it stands, the initiative with the best chance of passing is the governor’s plan. It has widespread business and labor support, and it has the least chance of running into well-funded opposition. Also, because of the intricacies of budget financial constraints, it would do the best job of eliminating the state’s structural deficit.

More importantly, if the governor’s measure isn’t approved, a new, $5 billion round of budget cuts will be triggered. That would be a disaster for California. The governor’s plan is the only one that should be on the November ballot.