Written by William Hale
In light of Newsom’s recent vetoing of two Bills, it’s fair to say that facilitating technological innovation at the state level is clearly not in the Governor’s interests.
Possible upsides in the aftermath of the disastrous pandemic lockdowns included allowing more options for how citizens pay their taxes, and improving participation in public meetings. With the lockdowns necessitating online work, the pandemic could have served as a transitional period to increase accessibility and ease for tax paying residents as they fulfill their responsibilities. However, Newsom blundered an opportunity to facilitate new technological progress at the state level by vetoing Senate Bill 675.
The Bill would have enabled property owners over the age of 62, or all individuals on SSID to pay their property tax monthly instead of twice per year. Many retired Californians would have benefited from the accounting of property tax in their monthly budget as many struggle to pay two large sums every year.
Rejecting Assembly Bill 339 was another inexplicable missed opportunity by Newsom. The Bill would have simply allowed people to participate online or over the phone during public meetings with city councils and county boards of supervisors. In response to pressure from local governments, AB339 would only have been applied to cities and counties with over 250,000 residents — The Governor asserted that the Bill would “set a precedent of tying public access requirements to the population of jurisdictions.”
Newsom missed his chance to lift a weight off retired Californian’s shoulders, while simultaneously standing in the way of his state’s technological efficiency.
Photo Cred: Eric Risberg/Associated Press
