POLLS SHOW GREAT SUPPORT FOR TAXING OTHERS.

Byline: Steve Geissinger Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Polls are showing the Schwarzenegger administration and Democratic lawmakers that there is vast support among Californians for tax hikes - a swift escape from chronic, multibillion-dollar deficit woes.

But voters want to tax someone else, anyone else, just not themselves.

That's why Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, despite continuing to explore the issue in internal polls, remains flatly opposed to increases in taxes as part of his proposed 2005-06 budget, according to aides and analysts.

And that's also why majority Democrats - even San Diego and San Francisco lawmakers who just jointly and quietly introduced a major tax-hike bill - aren't holding news conferences to talk about it.

Instead, Schwarzenegger and Democrats are dueling across California over spending cuts and other controversial solutions.

With politicians particularly mindful of Californians pointing fingers at each other over tax hikes, ``it has become, in a way, a lot like Arnold's movies,'' said David McCuan, a political science professor at California State University, Sonoma.

``The two sides are battling each other but, in this case, there's just not a lot of clarity about which side is good and which side is evil,'' McCuan said.

In the latest twist, Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Norwalk, has seized on a new study that says major companies are dodging tens of billions in taxes across the nation, which she said proves Schwarzenegger needs to close corporate tax loopholes in California with her new bill - an assertion Schwarzenegger rejects as a move that would hurt business in California.

``Residents are not willing to bite the bullet when it comes to taxes,'' said Mark Baldassare, director of polls for the San Francisco-based Public Policy Institute of California.

Secret surveys by the Schwarzenegger administration and lawmakers match what independent, nonpartisan pollsters have found, according to politicians' aides.

``A majority of Californians support raising the tax rate on the state's top income-tax bracket (69 percent favor, 28 percent oppose) and increasing cigarette and alcohol taxes (74 percent favor, 25 percent oppose),'' Baldassare said.

``But they steadfastly oppose increasing the state portion of the sales tax (64 percent oppose, 32 percent favor).

``So who do they think should pay to help get the state out of its current financial hole? Someone else,'' he said.

However, a PPIC poll released last week and other surveys indicate growing support for taxes among Democrats and independents.

Democratic Assembly members Juan Vargas of San Diego and Wilma Chan of Oakland have introduced AB 6, which would boost the personal income tax on California's wealthiest residents.

``If we are serious about solving the budget crisis, every option has to be on the table for consideration, not just cuts to teachers and health care for the elderly,'' Chan said in an interview.

``Asking the governor to use his clout to get us a fair share of federal funds, at least what we got under Gov. (Gray) Davis, is the first priority, but we need to be open to a wide range of options.''

But Schwarzenegger made it clear again in appearances across the state in recent days that he opposes their proposed tax hike and others.

``A lot of people say, 'Arnold, why don't you just raise taxes and be done with it?' Well, as I said earlier, we don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. We could raise taxes by billions but that would only further drive up spending by billions of dollars,'' the governor said, referring to voter-approved education funding guarantees and other constitutional requirements.

Schwarzenegger, if necessary, plans to bypass the Legislature and go directly to a special election ballot in November with spending- and government-reform initiatives. His proposed spending plan relies partially on billions of dollars in cuts to essential services, ranging from education to health care for the poor.

Treasurer Phil Angelides, a likely 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, has led his party's highest-profile officeholders in a traveling road show of their own.

Angelides is staging what he calls a broad counterattack against Schwarzenegger's proposals, in part because of what polls show, analysts said.

Polls indicate that ``residents are also not willing to bite the bullet when it comes to cuts in spending,'' Baldassare said.

Escutia hopes her Senate Bill 27 will strike a middle ground. It would prohibit corporations from using tax credits to shelter more than 50 percent of their tax liability for 2005 and 2006.

According to the state Franchise Tax Board, 4,835 corporations used tax credits to zero out their entire income tax liability at a cost of $237.3 million to this state last year.

SB 27 would raise an estimated $420 million in state revenues this year.

``This points to the need for legislation which prevents these no-tax corporations from taking California for a free ride,'' said Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the liberal California Tax Reform Association.

But, McCuan said, finding any ``middle ground'' on taxes this year is unlikely.

Steve Geissinger, [phone]

sgeissinger(at)angnewspapers.com