Papers Enlist Lobbyist to Fight Tax: Several...

Papers Enlist Lobbyist to Fight Tax: Several major California newspapers are hiring a high-powered Sacramento lobbyist to fight Gov. Pete Wilson’s plan to tax their industry. The Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Diego Union, the Sacramento Bee and the Orange County Register are among the papers that have hired lobbyist George Steffes, a former legislative liaison under then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. The San Jose Mercury News probably will join in the action, its publisher said. The governor has proposed withdrawing the state sales tax exemption from newspapers and periodicals of more than 25,000 circulation, for a total of about $114 million.