Brown’s tax initiative committee raises $7.82 million

Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative campaign committee has raised more than $7.82 million through the final week of July, with donations coming from a broad array of business, labor, health, and communications interests.

Financial disclosure documents on file with the state showed the largest contributions were a $500,000 donation from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and another $500,000 from the California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. The most recent donations included $250,000 from the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. The report covers December 2011 through the current month. The report can be viewed here.

Other $250,000 donations came from the California State Law Enforcement Association, the American Beverage Association, the California state Council of Laborers and the Consumer Attorneys of California.

On the expenditure side, about $2.3 million was spent on signature gathering to qualify the measure for the Nov. 6 ballot.

A rival initiative on the November ballot pushed by civil rights attorney Molly Munger, which would raise money for public schools, reported $8.8 million in donations with virtually all the money coming from Munger herself.

The governor’s proposal, Proposition 30 on the November ballot, would raise California statewide sales tax to 7.5%. The measure also would establish several new tax brackets for high income earners with incomes exceeding $250,000, $300,000, and $500,000. The increase would remain in effect for seven years.

Under the plan the highest earning Californians, those with taxable incomes over $500,000, would see a 24.39% increase in their tax bill. By one estimate, the highest tax level would be imposed on the top 3% of California taxpayers.

The taxes would raise an estimated $7 billion to $9 billion over seven years, depending upon the level of capital gains income and other uncertain issues during the life of the proposal. The money would be used for K-12 schools and community colleges, public safety and other key programs to ease the strain on the state budget.

Other contributors to Proposition 30 included $250,000 from Occidental Petroleum, $200,000 from the Personal Insurance Federation of California, and $100,000 each from NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros. and Disney Worldwide Services. There were nearly three dozen donations of $100,000 each contributed to the campaign.

Major donations included $50,000 each from Stewart and Lynda Resnick, Blue Shield of California, Anthem Blue Cross and the California Apartment Association.

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Ed’s Note: Deletes garble from penultimate graf.