-- In New York, Democratic Gov. David A. Patterson has proposed a $4 billion-revenue package that includes 137 new or increased taxes and fees that will impose an 18 percent anti-obesity tax on non-diet soft drinks, extend the sales tax to clothing and shoes under $110, and raise taxes on car rentals, gasoline, cable-TV service and a host of professional licensing fees from barbers to home inspectors and manicurists. He also wants to end property tax rebates and raise fees on motor-vehicle registration, auto insurance and state parks and hike tuitions at state universities.
-- In Oregon, Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski's $15.8 billion budget is calling for higher taxes on hospitals, health insurers, cigarettes, gasoline, vehicle registrations and corporations. He wants to push the gas tax up by 2 cents to 26 cents a gallon and raise vehicle-registration fees from $27 a year to $81.
The taxes would hit healthcare facilities across the state "at a time when Oregon's hospitals are facing a severe downturn in their net operating revenue," hospital officials said.
-- In California, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the election by promising not to raise taxes, is proposing a 1.5 percent increase on the sales tax that is now set at 7.25 percent. He also wants to raise the motor vehicle registration fee by $12. His critics say both taxes are regressive because they hit low-to-middle income taxpayers the hardest.
-- Gov. Butch Otter of Idaho, a Republican, is asking the legislature to raise vehicle-registration fees, hike the 25-cent-per-gallon gas tax and broaden the sales tax.
-- In Kansas, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and state legislative leaders are calling for a major cigarette-tax increase somewhere between 50 cents and 75 cents per pack to help finance healthcare programs.
Other governors who vowed never to raise taxes seem to be changing their tune in the face of declining revenues. Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons refused to raise taxes this year, calling instead for $1.2 billion in spending cuts. But now he says, "Nothing is off the table this time."
Wisconsin legislators are also considering tax and fee increases and South Dakota is weighing a gas-tax hike at a time when motorists are finally getting a break on gas prices.
The incoming Obama administration plans to send $400 billion to the states to prevent budget cuts in safety-net programs for low-to-middle income Americans. Yet this all seems moot, as citizens will be squeezed even more by their own states and localities.