Since the passage of Proposition 13, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has fought relentlessly for California’s citizen taxpayers and homeowners. Through its nearly 50-year history, we’ve had more than our share of victories as well as defeats.
Although not all the votes have been counted—due to California’s typical refusal to conduct elections in a timely manner—it appears that Proposition 43 may fail. If it does, it would be truly disappointing.
Prop. 43 would have restored a provision of Prop. 13 that requires that any local tax for a specific purpose obtain a two-thirds vote of the local electorate. That protection was eroded by court decisions allowing special taxes to avoid the two-thirds vote requirement if they were placed on the ballot via a “citizens’ initiative.” Unsurprisingly, this led to collusion between local government entities and special interests who would receive the tax revenue.
While our fight to pass Prop. 43 appears to have come up short, we made every effort to get the message out in the media through radio and TV advertising, interviews and newspaper articles, and a grassroots army that distributed thousands of signs and door hangers throughout the state.
Regrettably, the loss of Prop. 43 was…
