All of the bills in question would gut one of the most important provisions of Proposition 13 – the two thirds vote requirement for additional “add on” parcel taxes.These “add on” parcel and bond taxes are ontopof the property tax homeowners already pay under current law.

The six bills are designated as “SCAs” standing for “Senate Constitutional Amendments.”The Legislature itself cannot change the constitution without voter approval so the issue for each of these “SCAs” was whether they should proceed through the legislative process and appear on the ballot as partial repeals of Prop 13 which itself is part of the constitution.

The bills are as follows:

Senate Constitutional Amendment 3 (SCA 3), Mark Leno (D—San Francisco):Lowers the threshold for school district per-parcel property taxes from two-thirds to 55%. This is a direct… Read More

TODAY at least 7 bills that would directly undercut various provisions of Prop. 13 will be heard in committee. If approved, these bills could cost every property owner thousands of dollars.

There are seven bills pertaining to Proposition 13 that are up in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. Six of these bills directly undercut various provisions of Proposition 13.

The bills are: SCA 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 11.

THE FOLLOWING BILLS PLACE A BULLSEYE ON PROPOSITION 13 AND TAXPAYERS:

Senate Constitutional Amendment 3(SCA 3), Mark Leno (D—San Francisco): Lowers the threshold for school district per-parcel property taxes from two-thirds to 55%. This is a direct assault on Proposition 13 because it makes it easier to increase property taxes above Proposition 13′s one percent cap.

Senate Constitutional Amendment 4(SCA 4), Carol Liu (D—La Canada)and Senate Constitutional Amendment 8(SCA 8), Ellen… Read More

“Welcome to this week’s meeting of the ‘Don’t Leave Them With Two Nickels to Rub Together Committee’ It is good to see that the public employee union bosses, who represent the highest paid government workers in all 50 states, are in attendance. They are the heart and soul of our movement. Then of course, we must acknowledge those newspaper editors from some major papers, who work so hard to help our cause of increasing the tax burden on average Californians. Special mention and thanks must go to the representatives of theLos Angeles Times, a publication whose institutionalized hostility to Proposition 13 is legendary — it hardly seems like it has been 35 years since Howard Jarvis labeled your paper ‘the enemy of the people.’ Also, I want to give a shout out to the several leftist professors from taxpayers supported universities who have joined ustoday. And lest I forget, our special interest enablers in the private sector, most of whom profit directly from… Read More

We also noted that California is tied with two other states for the highest unemployment rate in the nation and that statistics… Read More

The Democratic party so dominates the Legislature and all constitutional offices, that Republicans almost need a passport to enter Sacramento. One would think that this would be the majority party’s opportunity to help California, which is tied with two other states for the highest unemployment in the nation, get back to work.

While Democratic lawmakers may try to comfort themselves with statistics that show the unemployment rate is declining, a closer look shows that the statistics are misleading. The declining numbers result from significant numbers of the unemployed giving up on the job market, and well… Read More

CalPERS, the huge pension fund that serves most California government employees, has announced it is raising its rates, a move that will cost employers – taxpayers that is – up to 50% more. For some local governments already on shaky financial footing, this may be the nudge that sends them down the bankruptcy road already traveled by Vallejo, Stockton and San Bernardino.

CalPERS is currently only 70% funded and the Board justified the increase, which amounts to billions of dollars annually, based on estimates that without increased revenue, there is an even chance that the major pension plans could fall below 50% funding in the next 30… Read More

We already knew about all the bills currently pending in the California Legislature that would weaken Proposition 13, either by lowering the two-thirds vote for most local taxes or by taking away Proposition 13’s protections for business owners. Businesses – large and small – have benefited in the same manner as homeowners from the modest tax rates and the certainty Prop 13 provides.

The “conventional wisdom” in Sacramento has been that attacks on Proposition 13 shouldn’t be taken too seriously because even most Democrats know that direct attacks would be overreaching. But in this case, “conventional wisdom” possesses neither convention nor wisdom.

The fact is that the attacks are coming and they are coming soon.

In the Senate, there are several proposed constitutional amendments to lower the two thirds vote for special taxes which would make it far too easy for local governments to impose a plethora of “parcel taxes.”

A problem for the tax and spend lobby is that the polls suggest that these… Read More

Just last year, you may recall, Senate Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, intentionally shut off the camera which was airing what was specifically designated as a “public hearing” at the Capitol just as HJTA’s representative was about to testify on the horrible impacts of Proposition 30. Agree with us or not, we had an important message to share with all California voters as to why imposing the highest income tax and sales tax rates in America was a bad idea. Pulling the plug on the public access channel was such an unwarranted act of censorship that even the usually liberal media was outraged.

Well, here we go again.

Today, April 8, 2013, the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation is holding a 3 hour hearing on Proposition 13. And yet the organization which is… Read More