“No person’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session,” is a quote attributed to Mark Twain. For that reason, taxpayers breathed a sigh of relief when the legislature adjourned on August 31st of this year. That’s the good news. The bad news is that legislators return this week and, at […]
Thanksgiving has always been a time of reflection, both on the good and bad. As taxpayer advocates, those of us at Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association have a lot to criticize. California has the highest income tax rate, highest state sales tax rate and highest gas tax in America. And despite claims that Proposition 13 has […]
There is near unanimity among economists that the United States will experience a recession in 2023. Last month, the Conference Board predicted a 96 percent likelihood of a recession in the U.S. within the next 12 months due primarily to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. Relative to other states, California is ill-prepared to weather […]
True to form with elections in California, we will not know the outcomes of many key races for days, if not weeks. But we can already discern some notable trends of particular relevance to taxpayers. First, in statewide office contests, Republicans are irrelevant as California remains in the grip of one-party rule. As proof, consider […]
While the title of this column assumes that Republicans will do very well nationally on election day, it’s not just idle speculation. Democrats and pundits have all but conceded the inevitability. Political junkies will also tell you that it is confirmed by several factors beyond polling. For example, in races that were once thought to […]
“The most despicable, deceptive campaign we’ve seen in a long time,” said Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, about a mailer sent out by the proponents of Measure D in San Bernardino. “Moreover, the illegal use of the image of Howard Jarvis has resulted in two ‘cease and desist’ letters.” Measure D […]
Much of what government does is wasteful, ineffective, and redundant. For example, Senate Bill 679 was recently signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of the “housing and homelessness package” of bills intended to address the state’s housing shortage. While no one disputes the severity of California’s housing crisis, this legislation is seriously […]
The tide may have turned on Proposition 30. A Berkeley IGS poll released last week now has support dropping below 50% after polling at 55% a few weeks ago. While the opposition to the measure is much less, at 37%, the gap has narrowed significantly. Two factors might explain this drop. First, as voters begin […]
We were a bit taken aback with the recent article in the Register by reporter Teri Sforza rhetorically asking if major businesses in Orange County are paying enough property taxes. Only toward the end of the piece was there an acknowledgement that in 2020, California voters rejected the “split roll” proposal by voting against Proposition […]
It’s no secret that most Californians think that taxes are too high. A PPIC poll released on April 15 of this year found that “record-high shares of Californians think that they pay more in taxes than they should and that the state and local tax system is not fair.” That feeling, according to PPIC, “. […]
