California business leaders are warning residents that Sacramento politicians are preparing to unleash a “tax bomb” on the state, launching a new advertisement to drive the message home.
The provocative spot from the Californians Against Wasteful Spending and Higher Taxes coalition features a staged bomb-squad operation. It warns voters that hundreds of potential state and local tax increases could appear on the November ballot.
The coalition, an initiative of the California Business Roundtable, which represents many of the state’s largest employers, released the 60-second ad on social media Wednesday.
The commercial begins with people rushing into a building as two armed men wearing “Bomb squad” uniforms move toward what appears to be an explosive device.
The supposed device is portrayed as a “tax bomb” consisting of the hundreds of tax hikes California voters could be asked to consider in November.
As the officers approach, one warns that no Californian will be spared from the impact.
“Every Californian is going to pay more.”
“With this big of a tax bomb nothing is safe. The entire state could get destroyed.”
The advertisement also claims that about 2 million people have already “evacuated,” referring to Californians who have moved to states such as Texas and Florida in recent years.
It then points the finger at what it calls a “group called the politicians,” accusing them of seeking additional taxpayer dollars for “programs even if they all fail.”
The ad closes with a direct appeal to voters: “No to higher taxes.”
Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, told The California Post that the campaign is intended to draw voters’ attention to the issue before Election Day.
“Just to get people’s attention that there’s a lot of taxes on the ballot on election day. The key is that they understand what’s coming,” Lapsley said.
“We are the highest tax state in the country and all we are doing is continuing to pass taxes.”
Lapsley argued that the proposed increases conflict with politicians’ repeated focus on affordability and California’s exceptionally high cost of living.
“Everybody talks about affordability and the cost of living but then all you do is see more taxes. And when you keep piling on more taxes all you do is make California more unaffordable.”
He said the larger question is whether California can continue supporting job creation while keeping workers and businesses in the state.
The California Business Roundtable represents CEOs and senior executives from some of California’s biggest companies, whose combined workforce exceeds 500,000 employees.
Lapsley said he wants viewers to understand that the debate is ultimately about “jobs and being able to grow jobs and keep California affordable for our employees.”
The coalition contends that Sacramento has already had ample taxpayer money at its disposal.
“In the last five years, Sacramento blew through a $100 billion surplus on a reckless spending spree, with billions of taxpayer dollars lost to waste and fraud. State spending increased by 79% since 2019,” a message on the coalition’s website reads.
“New taxes won’t solve the problem. They’ll make it worse by driving away jobs, revenue, and opportunity, ultimately hitting regular people and businesses the hardest.”
Another business-backed group, the Coalition for California, has also been hammering Sacramento over its spending.
The group points to:
- $31 billion lost to unemployment insurance fraud.
The group argues that despite the enormous spending, California continues to struggle with homelessness, deteriorating roads and underperforming schools.
