Skelton: Jerry Brown's taxes are the best bad choice

George Skelton wants voters to approve Gov. Jerry Brown's tax hikes -- but that doesn't mean he thinks very highly of the governor's plan. 

He writes in Thursday's column that the "proposal is terrible public policy. Plain and simple. But it offers the only plausible path to rescuing California schools from more painful budget slashing."

Skelton says Brown's initiative, Proposition 30, is the only way to protect California's children from almost $5.5 billion in cuts to public schools. However, he says, there are serious problems with the plan. 

California is too reliant on income taxes, and Proposition 30 would only increase that dependence. Plus, Skelton says, increasing tax rates on the wealthy would make the "roller-coaster tax system even more volatile and unstable."

“Prop. 30 has no tax reform and makes it worse,” says Gerald Parsky, who has chaired two tax reform commissions.

All of Skelton's columns are here.

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Photo: Gov. Jerry Brown campaigns for Proposition 30 on Wednesday in San Francisco. Credit: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press