Tax Day is that day that calls on all of us to think about what it means to be a citizen of the United States and what our obligations are to each other. It goes beyond the oversimplified arguments about government being too big or being too small. For me, it is more about what it means to have obligations to each other as citizens who share a social contract about how we are going to get along. That social contract, which has been memorialized in the Constitution and all of the laws and regulations derived from it, including the tax code, are the formal structures that shape our sense of community.

Beyond this formal structure, what does it mean to share a common destiny with all of the obligations and commitments implied in that? If taxes are a way to “settle accounts” between us, through the instrumentality of government, how are we to interpret current budget talks and conversations about tax reform? Square in the middle of this are fundamental concepts of justice, opportunity, and equity. One taxpayer’s tax burden is another taxpayer’s chance at a job training program, a decent public education system or treatment for a deadly disease. As Barney Frank has said, “Government is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together.”

You don’t have to look at polls to appreciate how contested the issues of size of government and taxes are. While a majority of Americans accept the idea of higher taxes for some public goods, most people do not want their taxes raised. Compared to other wealthy countries, the United States tax burden is ranked 32nd among countries with higher tax rates. Compared to rich countries like Germany and Norway we pay significantly less, but we also pay less than less wealthy countries like Slovakia, Turkey, and Poland. The real question isn’t how much we pay comparatively, but how much those taxes yield for us.

Of those 31 countries that pay more, the majority of them use tax money to extend life expectancy, support education, and sustain a more outcomes oriented safety net. We have the highest per capita health costs, declining high school graduation and a growing underclass. We don’t seem to be getting value for our money compared to other countries.

Many Americans say that government is inefficient and does not spend money effectively. But, if you look at Medicare, our government program for the elderly and long term disabled, health care costs, including administration, are the lower than any commercial health insurer. Our government can be efficient.

Let’s remind ourselves that we are all in this together and that when we all get better (financially, medically, socially), we all get better. Let’s take a look at how much we pay as a country and what we get as a country, in terms of the health, education, economic opportunities and environmental outcomes from our taxes. Let’s understand why we get so little compared to our competitors and allies in the global economy and commit ourselves to overhauling and simplifying our tax code, improving progressivity, and getting value for our expenditures. Let’s turn the rhetoric down and increase the transparency and accountability we have to strengthen our contract with each other and to promote justice and the well being of us all, including those who have the least.

As a state, we can stop borrowing from the future and preserve current educational, health and economic development programs to stem our declines in school performance, employment and health outcomes. This is especially important for Californians whose incomes place them in the bottom 20%.

I caution us all to not presume that a balanced budget has solved the state’s retreat from improving the well being of low income Californians. Rather, the state will need to grow revenues just to prevent current educational, health and affordable housing outcomes from declining.

We got part of the way there by balancing the budget, now the heavy lifting needs to occur.

We have many reasons to be hopeful. The balanced budget is a direct consequence of Prop 30 that passed in the November elections. Californians came together and agreed to pay more sales tax and state income tax to end the State government’s financial hemorrhaging.

On top of the passage of Prop 30 to balance the budget, a poll released in December by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that Californians are optimistic about their future. Particularly, younger Californians, see a brighter future for the Golden State.

The poll also demonstrated support for spending reforms and lowering the vote thresholds necessary to pass state and local tax increases. Californians support simple majorities (as contrasted with 2/3 majority) to raise additional revenue. That having been said, the majority of Californians are not supportive of raising the sales or vehicle tax. A slight majority expressed that California will become a better place to live in the future.

That is where the disconnect occurs. California will become a better place to live and filled with opportunities only if we do better on educating our children, increasing job training, building affordable housing and updating crumbling infrastructure. And that is only a start.

The optimism expressed in the poll, as seen in the optimism about  the economy combined with the ability to generate more revenue, is only manifest if we invest in our public goods. The right ingredients are there, we just need to remind our fellow Californians that our shared problems are solvable if we create the means to solve them.

Say what you may about increased taxes, but strengthening government and increasing taxes are the primary vehicles to build this future. The private sector can play a leading role providing job opportunities and increasing the wealth of Californians but it is not able to provide the public goods that lead to more opportunities for all Californians to co-create a better future for our State.

Our shared future is a filled with potential. Let’s make sure we capture that opportunity!

Mark diCamillo, from the Field Poll, pre-released polls last Friday here at The San Francisco Foundation, showing the emergence of Californians of color as providing the critical margin to the most contested propositions before us this Tuesday.

New America Media, a grantee in our public policy cohort, commissioned Mark DiCamillo of the Field Poll to poll in six different languages to better understand the ethnic vote in California. Those languages included English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

In contrast, with White, non-hispanic voters, Latino, Asian American and African Americans will likely provide the margins needed to shift the outcomes on ballot Propositions 30, 32, 34 and 38. This indicates the emerging influence of Latino, Asian American and African Americans on California Elections.

The most recent poll, conducted at the end of October, describes an emerging trend among children of first generation immigrants, voting in very different ways from their parents. Not surprisingly, the newer generation of young voters, in general, support propositions to support raising new revenues for education, ending the death penalty in favor of a life sentence, and support the re-election of President Obama. Latino, Asian American and African American Californians appear to have a different view of the role of government and candidates that skews positively to progressive ballot measures and candidates, more than their White, non-hispanic, Californian counter parts.

The San Francisco Foundation, through it’s public policy and civic engagement programs, support organizations like New America Media and state based organizations to maximize voter participation of low income communities, communities of color and non-English speaking voters. We also support voter education and voter mobilization in the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Foundation is non-partisan and opposes San Francisco’s Proposition F.

Watch out for some more posts on voter engagement after Tuesday’s election.