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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has maintained that his budget contains no taxes, but the Legislative Counsel has drafted his fire surcharge as a tax.

The proposal would raise $200 million for the state's general fund by imposing a 4.8 percent surcharge on residential and commercial property insurance. The proposal, Assembly Bill 185, requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature because it has been deemed a tax.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst said in January he considered the proposal a tax because all California property owners would pay for emergency fire response that largely benefits rural areas. But the governor has insisted it is not a tax.

"We consider it a fee," Schwarzenegger said in January. "I let some people debate over that -- what's a fee and what's a tax. But I mean, I call it a fee."

The practical impact is that the bill requires a two-thirds vote. That threshold may be difficult to reach, given that Republicans have opposed the idea on grounds that it is a new form of taxation.

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