No Grand Finale For Brown's Fireworks Tax Proposal

It’s nearly July 4, and all across the state people are stocking up on fireworks. Those fireworks could have become more expensive under a tax proposal Gov. Jerry Brown pushed as part of his budget. Despite the fact Brown got nearly everything he wanted during this year’s budget negotiations, the fireworks tax fizzled out. Legislative staffers from both parties say there’s no way it will become law this year.

A 300,000-Pound Backlog

Most Californians buy fireworks from the roadside stands that pop up in the week before the Fourth of July. The West Sacramento Little League operates one. Paul Crews was manning the booth Tuesday afternoon and said the organization was hoping to raise $12,000 this week. He pointed to fireworks packs with names like “49er” and “The Opening Show” as his most popular items. An item called “Piccolo Pete,” which lets out an ear-piercing five-second screech, also does well.

The state labels these authorized, licensed fireworks as “safe and sane.”  They don’t explode. Anything more intense is probably illegal. Local authorities confiscate the illegal fireworks they come across, and eventually pass the contraband along to California’s fire marshal. Cal Fire typically ends up with about 100,000 pounds of illegal fireworks every  year.

It turns out that getting rid of these illegal fireworks is pretty complicated.

“We’re limited in what we can do for disposal options,” said Assistant State Fire Marshal Michael Richwine. The state has to send the fireworks to EPA-approved destruction sites. The closest locations are in Missouri and Louisiana.

Richwine said it costs at least $6 to get rid of every pound of fireworks. “So as you can imagine, having 100,000 pounds a year, and getting the coordination for, No. 1 , the funding, and No. 2, the hazardous waste contractors to come pick up the fireworks, has been difficult,” he said.

Because of that, Cal Fire currently has a backlog of 300,000 pounds of illegal fireworks in storage. And Richwine says there’s no dedicated funding to get rid of them. The department had been using money the state got from environmental settlements, but that has dried up. This year’s budget provides a one-time allocation of money tied to hazardous waste removal. Richwine said there’s nothing allocated for future years.

A 10-Cent Tax Republicans Oppose

That’s where Brown's tax proposal comes in. His budget plan included a 10-cent-per-pound tax on “safe and sane” fireworks to fund illegal fireworks disposal. The administration estimates a tax could generate between $1 million and $1.5 million.

On the purchasing end, 10 cents a pound isn’t a whole lot. The levy would amount to pennies on a box of those shrill Piccolo Petes.  Paul Crews didn’t think the added cost would impact his West Sacramento sales. “Instead of $39.99, it’s going to be $41.99. What the heck,” he said.

But Crews seemed skeptical of the idea of a tax on something so closely associated with Independence Day. So did some Republicans at the state Capitol.

“What’s that, a patriot tax?” asked Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly during last month’s budget debate. “Is there going to be a tax on patriotism?”

The tax increase requires two-thirds support in the Legislature to pass. That means some Senate Republicans would have to vote for it. But they made it clear they wouldn’t, when the rest of the budget passed two weeks ago.

Senate GOP spokesman Peter DeMarco said the caucus still opposes it, and argues the fireworks money should have been allocated  as part of the general fund.

“There’s been no shortage of creativity of the majority party to find ways to fund their pet programs,” he said. “Regardless of whether the intent is noble or not, that’s not the issue. “

Staffers from both parties now agree the fireworks tax is essentially dead.

Still, Cal Fire will run out of money to deal with illegal fireworks next year. That means the governor still has some time to find a new funding idea. Because if this tax were a firework, you could safely say it was a dud.