Important Updates on Saving Prop. 13 and Proposed Wealth Tax
Important Updates on Saving Prop. 13 and Proposed Wealth Tax
This information update has been provided by the California Business Roundtable, the leading voice in the state’s business community, championing policies that foster economic growth, innovation, and job creation. For more information, go to www.CBRT.org.
Local Taxpayer Protection Act: Save Proposition 13
This year, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is leading efforts to pass a ballot initiative to “Save Proposition 13” called the “Local Taxpayer Protection Act” (See www.SaveProp13.com).
So far, well over one million signatures have been collected to place the Local Taxpayer Protection Act on the November ballot. Approximately 1.35+ million signatures will be needed, and the campaign is now collecting over 100,000 signatures per week – no other initiative currently collecting signatures on the street is coming close to those numbers.
Why?
Because when voters understand what the Local Taxpayer Protection Act will do for them, they are very supportive and willing to add their signature to the effort. Not only will passage of the Local Taxpayer Protection Act cancel real estate transfer taxes like the City of Los Angeles’ Measure ULA, but the act will also require a two-thirds vote to pass and impose any new taxes on real property. Mr. Coupal will be speaking around 9:00 a.m. on March 25th. You won’t want to miss this.
The deadline is Friday, February 13th.
THERE’S STILL TIME TO HELP. SIGN THE PETITION ONLINE AT www.SaveProp13.com immediately.
What We Know About the Proposed Wealth Tax
The California Business Roundtable reports that it has conducted focus groups on the proposed Wealth Tax ballot measure, which would levy a 5% tax on worldwide assets held by California’s billionaires. Focus groups consisting of registered voters who are mainly democrats and independents assessed the opinions in depth on the proposed wealth tax. Arguments were provided to focus group participants both in support and opposition to the measure to help them make informed decisions. While focus groups are just a first step in our comprehensive in-depth voter research program, the results were extremely promising and reinforced an earlier California Business Roundtable poll that indicated the wealth tax ballot measure can be defeated if it ultimately qualifies for the November ballot. Next steps may include statewide polling using what was learned from the focus groups to test our arguments on a statewide basis.
Research
In addition, the California Business Roundtable’s research team found a report authored by the four professors who helped draft the wealth tax ballot measure, where they admit the wealth tax can be expanded by a two-thirds vote of the State Legislature. That means the Legislature can extend wealth taxes to people who own far less than one billion dollars (e.g., $100 million, $10 million, or even those with just $1 million in assets – scary!), increase the rate beyond 5%, and even change the definition of assets by a two-thirds vote.
Currently, a two-thirds vote in the State Assembly is just 54 votes. The super majority party currently holds 60 seats. In the State Senate, a two-thirds vote is only 27 votes. The super majority party holds 30 Senate seats. The legislature could easily secure the two-thirds vote necessary to continually ratchet down the wealth tax qualifications. As the authors' analysis shows, the Legislature could directly expand the wealth tax to undermine Proposition 13 and increase property taxes in various ways. Stay tuned for future updates.