Sacramento Mayor Steinberg’s Proposed Sales Tax Increase: Remarkable Ignorance of California Law

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has proposed a city and county tax increase ballot measure, the standard issue illusory cure-all for elected leftists that head failing local governmental entities. His proposal is a half-cent sales tax increase for transportation along with homeless and low income housing – that tax to last forty years. 

While Steinberg is an attorney, he often exhibits remarkable ignorance of California law. 

Article II, Section 8(D) of the state constitution states, “An initiative measure embracing more than one subject may not be submitted to the electors or have any effect.” In other words, it is illegal to even place this tax measure on the ballot as it combines the two subjects of transportation and housing.

Additionally, Steinberg has suggested that the Sacramento Transportation Authority place this tax increase on the ballot, which may be illegal in itself, due to the housing element. 

Ironically, rather than helping those of lower incomes, this sales tax increase is regressive, with a very negative impact the poor and lower income residents. The Steinberg sales tax increase renders a total 9.25 percent, which is a massive gouge in disposable income for the poor.  

As Mayor, Steinberg is not without accomplishments, mostly proving that he is a very ineffective municipal manager, notably running up the costs and size of bureaucracy while lowering the quality of the product delivered to the public. A prime example is the city homeless situation which has gotten extreme, yet massive amounts of cash have been expended with little in noticeable impact other than the creation of additional city homeless bureaucracy.

Under Steinberg, the city homeless situation has deteriorated to the point that Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho has Sacramento City Hall under investigation for possible civil and criminal violations for deliberately not enforcing existing law and Ho is supported by thousands of contacts by residents with his office.     

Steinberg’s only other management experience of note was as the head of the California State Senate, as the President Pro Tem (2008-14), where his tenure was wracked with scandal, including three democrat Senators, in the caucus he managed, convicted of various crimes. Most notably, the vocal anti-gun Sen. Leland Yee was ironically caught as a major player in a deal to supply major arms to Islamic terrorists in the Philippines. 

Further, the Senate personnel office under Steinberg also became dominated by scandal, for Senate staff being loaded with nepotism, and punctuated by a drug infused off duty gunfight by a Senate sergeant-at-arms. That job is a law enforcement officer under the purview of the State Senate President Pro Tem.

There have been a number of press reports of Mayor Steinberg wishing to seek higher office by appointment or by election, the office of California Attorney General being of special interest.

He also sought a State Appellate Court appointment earlier this year. Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed two California Attorneys General and filled the Appellate vacant positions without appointing Steinberg. 

Appointment as an Appellate jurist is problematical as Steinberg is not an attorney of the courtroom experience conventionally considered to be required for a major jurist position.

The California Attorney General must know law, must not deliberately ignore and fail to enforce law for ideological convenience, as Steinberg has done on the Sacramento homeless situation, and must be able to effectively oversee a very large law enforcement agency.  

Conclusions

Steinberg is not suited to any position of legal importance, because he does not know California law.

The Steinberg sales tax for transportation and homeless housing is an obviously illegal proposal.