Hot Issues for the Week of May 12, 2008
Mortgages
SUPPORT AB 1918 (Niello; R-Fair Oaks) Income Taxes — Helps borrowers in a short sale of their home by excluding the forgiven debt from the borrower's taxable income. Would apply only to debt forgiven during 2007-2009, and would help provide conformity to federal income tax laws. Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing May 12.
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SUPPORT SB 1055 (Machado; D-Linden) Mortgage Debt Forgiveness — Helps borrowers in a short sale of their home by excluding the forgiven debt from the borrower's taxable income. Would apply only to debt forgiven in 2007 and 2008, and would help provide conformity to federal income tax laws. Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing May 12.
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Taxation
OPPOSE AB 1840 (Charles Calderon; D-Montebello) Sales and Use Taxes — Harms California technology sector companies, such as web host companies and online marketplaces, by removing a current safe harbor in the tax law that helps to ensure they can compete for customers from around the globe. Assembly Appropriations suspense file.
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OPPOSE AB 1848 (Ma; D-San Francisco) Tax Administration Burden — Greatly increases cost of doing business in California and increases business tax administrative burden by requiring companies to track state tax liability and collect taxes from outside companies and independent contractors. Assembly Appropriations suspense file.
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Climate Change
OPPOSE AB 2558 (Feuer; D-Los Angeles) Change Mitigation and Adaptation Fee — Assesses an unfair tax on businesses and consumers by authorizing the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to impose a tax on either motor vehicles or vehicle fuel. Assembly Floor.
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Labor and Employment
OPPOSE SB 1583 (Corbett; D-San Leandro) Independent Contractors — Creates joint and several liability penalizing advisors who work with businesses on the complex task of determining worker status, by making the advisor liable along with the business for any penalty if an independent contractor is later found to be an employee, regardless of whether the misclassification was deliberate. Senate Floor.
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Driving Toward a Cleaner California
The Air Resources Board is working on a regulation that could affect more than 1.5 million diesel trucks and buses in California! Join the Driving Toward a Cleaner California Coalition today and find out what you can do to make sure CARB strikes the right balance between protecting our environment and our economy. For more information on what you can do, visit www.drivecleanCA.org.