Does anyone honestly think that the California Legislature’s complete abandonment of the middle class is unrelated to the state’s highest-in-the-nation poverty rate? This past week presented a stark contrast in the Golden State. First, the controller reported state tax proceeds from all categories are exceeding budget projections. Specifically, the state brought in almost $9 billion […]
By Jon Coupal and Kevin Kiley The attorney general of California has the responsibility of preparing the “title and summary” for ballot measures to be submitted to the voters. Pursuant to that authority, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued the title and summary for one of the most anticipated ballot initiatives for the 2018 election. […]
Earlier this week the California Supreme Court issued a stunning decision which imperils every California taxpayer. At issue is whether taxes proposed by special interests using the local initiative process have to comply with taxpayer protections set forth in Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act, a Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association sponsored statewide […]
California’s iconic 1978 tax cutting measure, Proposition 13, was motivated by a desire to, first and foremost, limit out of control property taxes. To that end, the measure has been a remarkable success saving California property owners more than half a trillion dollars in its 39 year history. (Notwithstanding that achievement, California still ranks in […]
The latest lobbying reports are out in Sacramento, showing how much special interests are spending to influence lawmakers. After reading the reports, you can’t blame taxpayers for feeling like the man who has been unjustly condemned to the gallows and is compelled to pay for the rope that will hang him. When asked who spends […]
By Jon Coupal and Phillip Chen | California is in a housing crisis. The cost of housing — both for purchase and rental housing — is too expensive. Ineffective public housing policies and anti-growth policies that impede even reasonable development projects have choked supply in a high-demand market. California needs to start building homes and […]
Last week, the ostensibly nonpartisan California Fair Political Practices Commission agreed to remove a long-standing campaign contribution limit so that Democrats could better fight an upcoming recall election against one of their own. And you thought things were bad in Venezuela. Earlier this year, frustrated taxpayers in Senate District 29 initiated a recall of state […]
Last week eight Republicans in the California Legislature made the unfortunate decision to vote for an extension of cap and trade that will increase the cost of fuel by as much as 71 cents a gallon by 2031. The primary justification was that the market-based cap-and-trade solution was preferable to any option controlled solely by […]
California’s middle class, who pay the bulk of all taxes in California, are constantly under attack from Sacramento politicians. Already this year, the Legislature approved Senate Bill 1, to add 19 cents per gallon to the cost of fuel beginning in October and an average of a $50 increase in the car tax. This translates […]
By Jon Coupal and Kammi Foote | Last week, the California Senate voted to pass Senate Bill 2 which would impose a new $75 tax on real estate documents filed with each county’s clerk recorder. If the bill becomes law, the projected revenue — over $250 million annually — would be dedicated to low income […]
