Dateline Sacramento – State Board of Equalization member George Runner today stepped into a blazing controversy that not only would strip the taxing board of numerous powers but would see members appointed rather than elected.

ing controversy nner today stepped into a blaz issued the following statement today in response to sweeping budget legislation that would strip the Board of Equalization of nearly all its current functions:

“Taxpayers must be warned,” said Mr/ Runner, “that the so-called Transparency and Fairness legislation announced yesterday by the very politicians who just voted to raise your gas tax, is neither transparent nor fair.

“This last-minute budget power grab would strip California taxpayers of their right to bring their tax appeals before their elected peers.

“In its place the bill would establish yet another unelected and costly tax bureaucracy.”

Mr. Runner, from Diamond Bar, swung hard at the notion that Board of Equalization members should be appointed by the governor.

Where is the impartiality in that? he wondered.

“It is a sad but true reality that the only real alternative to an elected official is an unelected state worker,” Mr. Runner said with disgust.

“The proposed changes go far beyond issues identified in recent audits.

Nearly all of those issues have been addressed and corrected by the Board.”

Mr. Runner said that “changes of this magnitude should not be rushed through the budget process, bypassing the deliberative process.

“Instead,” he said, “they should go through the normal policymaking process to allow public input.”

Mr. Runner represents nine million Southern Californians as an elected member of the State Board of Equalization. He may be contacted at www.boe.ca.gov/Runner.