Action #1: Hey, did you know that CA is one of a handful of states that might tax those who receive student debt relief?

While the American Rescue Plan prevents President Biden’s $10k student debt relief from being considered taxable income on federal tax returns until 2025, borrowers in seven states may have to pay state income tax on it, including CA residents.

Contact: Governor Gavin Newsom: email

Minimal script: Dear Governor Newsom, I was surprised to learn that our state was one of only seven that might tax Biden’s student debt relief as additional income. Most people who’ll qualify to have their debts forgiven are low income and many have struggled for decades to make their monthly payments. They shouldn’t have to worry about paying state taxes on the amount that’s forgiven. Please publicly announce that California, which is working to keep college costs down and to increase state financial aid for students, will exempt them from this additional financial burden.

Action #2: The CA legislative session closed on Aug. 31. Now we need to play mop-up and ask Newsom to veto solar-killing bill AB 2143.

Good news first!

• We killed SB 396 which would have allowed PG&E to cut almost any tree anywhere with no recourse and no oversight, a wasteful and ineffective method to stop wildfires.
• We killed AB 2667, which would have harmed microgrids we need for resilience and safety in wildfires and blackouts.
• We killed SB 1385, which would have been a PG&E scam undermining successful solar on multi-family housing programs.
• We got the Governor to pull out the solar tax in his Diablo bill that did pass and we still need to work to stop, but we stopped the solar tax, for now. 

Now, the issue...

Continue reading “Email Newsom about state taxes on student debt relief and vetoing a bill that hurts our solar industry.” →