I Have A Better Idea

From the SF Chronicle:

State finance officials project that California will have a $38 billion discretionary surplus in the upcoming fiscal year, a massive influx of cash that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature have a month todecide how to spend.

The surplus is more than twice what the Department of Finance estimated in January, reflecting an economy that has recovered far more quickly than expected from the pandemic-induced recession, particularly for the wealthiest Californians.

Newsom wants to use more than $8 billion of the windfall to expand on the $600 stimulus checks the state already targeted to millions of Californians this spring, a second round of direct cash payments that the governor said would ultimately reach two-thirds of Californians. He also outlined additional steps to cover unpaid rent and utility bills for tenants slammed by the pandemic.

Rather than taxing us, skimming some off the top, and giving us a little back, wouldn't it be much more efficient--if your goal really were to stimulate the economy rather than to attempt to buy votes--wouldn't it be much more efficient just to lower taxes, allowing citizens to spend their own money however they want?  An idea so crazy it just might work!