“California just passed a huge tax increase, including a new healthcare tax that will raise insurance costs by hundreds of dollars. My state already has the highest taxes and living costs in the country. My colleagues and I are asking the federal health department to block this tax.”

“Mr. Speaker, many Californians were shocked to learn that our legislature and Governor have just imposed what is being called the largest tax increase in State history, which is saying quite a lot in a State that already has the highest taxes in the country. Included in that is a massive new healthcare tax that is estimated to raise the healthcare premiums for many Californians by hundreds of dollars. This is something that our State simply cannot afford. When we already have the highest cost of living in the country, this is the last thing that our families need. What is more, it violates, at the very least, the spirit if not the letter of Proposition 35, passed by voters to limit precisely this kind of a tax increase. Fortunately, there is a way we can fight back. This new change has to be approved by regulators at the Federal level, and so myself and my colleagues are asking HHS--and we will be conveying this in a letter-- specifically to block the implementation of this plan, to block this tax proposal so that Californians do not suffer another blow to both our democracy and our cost of living.”