California Budget Fix Onerous to Taxpayers

California requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass budgets and tax increases, allowing minority Republicans to make demands they deem important. In most cases, that means helping business.

"Some of this is just gross payout," Thornberg said.

Many other states are, or will be, facing the kind of difficult financial decisions California lawmakers were forced to make in February. So far this year, California is alone in balancing its budget on the backs of average taxpayers. The final, two-year budget fix, also included $15 billion in program cuts and about $6 billion in borrowing.

The higher income tax rates, sales tax and vehicle license fee are hitting as home prices tumble and unemployment in the state has hit double digits.

"I don't think that it's good," said middle school counselor Pamela Hunt, 52, of Sacramento, who earns $53,000 a year. "They're going to put them up and they're going to keep rising."

At least a half dozen other states are looking to sin taxes -- including levies on cigarettes and alcohol -- to help fill budget holes. Lawmakers in Oregon and Wisconsin are targeting high-income earners. In Louisiana, lawmakers are pushing for, among other things, tax breaks for seniors and cutting property taxes.

In New York, the governor and Democratic leaders are seeking to close a $16 billion budget gap by raising income taxes on the wealthy, boosting fees for driver's, hunting and fishing licenses, and imposing higher taxes on booze and cigars.

The criticism of the California taxes is that they are considered regressive -- hitting middle- and lower-income families harder than wealthier ones.