By Danny Feingold / Capital & Main
The last time California enacted comprehensive tax reform, FDR was president, Babe Ruth was still playing baseball and the Golden State was five years away from seeing its first freeway open. No wonder, then, that the world’s seventh-largest economy has an antiquated tax system, something many consider a major factor in the fiscal rollercoaster that has defined the state’s economy for several decades.
All this could change if State Controller Betty Yee has her way. California’s chief financial officer is hell-bent on bringing the state’s tax structure into the 21st century, even if it has to be dragged kicking and screaming.
As the state’s chief financial officer, Yee feels a strong obligation to bring fiscal stability to California. But her motivation to overhaul the state’s tax system is also rooted in a desire to see greater and more sustained public investment in one of the epic challenges of our time – reducing economic inequality. [Read more…]