Wendy Sherman: “I tell my colleagues, please do not listen to this speech unless they are from California. As Californians, we, of…”

“I tell my colleagues, please do not listen to this speech unless they are from California. As Californians, we, of course, care that this bill will hurt America because it encourages the export of jobs and increases the federal deficit. But we care perhaps even more that it is the most anti-California tax bill in history. If one is from Texas and they pay sales tax, they can deduct that under this bill. But if they are from California, they pay a higher rate of sales tax, and under this bill, they get no deduction. The bill contains some loophole plugs for corporations doing funny things overseas, but then it provides exemptions for four specific corporations, four Houston-based corporations. Our kids are dying from tobacco. This bill contains $10 billion for tobacco farmers, and of course, not one penny of that is going to a Californian. But what we were supposed to get out of it is FDA regulation of tobacco to save some of our kids. Well, they stripped that out of the bill so the FDA will have no power to regulate tobacco, just $10 billion goes to the tobacco farmers. This is an export promotion bill, or so it claims. California is the number one export State. The entertainment industry, based in our State, is the number one export industry. Surely, there must be something in it for California. And indeed, there is: $1 billion and more of tax increases on America's number one export industry, the entertainment industry. Why is that?”