Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urges insurance assessment to fund firefighting

The L.A. Times reports on Arnold call for a new tax:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose hiking the cost of insurance for millions of California homes and businesses in the budget he unveils Thursday, with the money to be used for firefighting efforts.

The proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, calls for new charges to be tacked onto the insurance bill for every residential and commercial property in the state. Administration officials call the charges fees and defend them as consistent with the governor's pledge, repeated in his State of the State address Tuesday, to not raise taxes.


Anti-tax groups and consumer advocates say the assessments are a tax.

The high cost state of California keeps getting more expensive.