REPORT FROM THE CAPITOL
By David Wolfe, HJTA Legislative DirectorAs one of the largest grassroots anti-tax organizations in the nation, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association relies on the support of our Members, which allows us to influence legislation and protect taxpayers. Please use "Contact Your Representative" to the right of this page to urge your representative to support taxpayers when voting on the following important bills.
NOTE TO HJTA MEMBERS: For an updated status on any of these bills, please go to http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html and type in the bill number in the space provided. For questions regarding a position on a bill, please contact HJTA Legislative Director David Wolfe at david@hjta.org.
| HJTA Position | Bill Number | Topic | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | AB 68 | Solid waste: single-use carryout bags. | Two-year bill |
Places a 25-cent tax on plastic bags to fund litter prevention programs. | |||
| Oppose | AB 73 | Marriage licenses: vital records: fees: domestic violence. | Signed by Governor |
Increases marriage license fees to pay for domestic violence prevention programs. As there is no nexus between the fee and the program, this should be considered a special tax and should require two-thirds voter approval from residents of the affected municipalities. | |||
| Oppose | AB 87 | Single-use carryout bags: environmental effects: mitigation. | Two-year bill |
Places a 25-cent tax on plastic bags to fund litter prevention programs. | |||
| Oppose | AB 89 | Taxation: cigarettes and other tobacco products. | Two-year bill |
Places a new excise tax on cigarettes of $0.105 for each cigarette distributed. | |||
| Support | AB 111 | Taxation: cancellation of indebtedness: mortgage debt forgiveness. | Held (defeated without a vote) in the Assembly Appropriations Committee |
Would forgive income tax on mortgage debt brought about by way of a foreclosure. | |||
| Oppose | AB 139 | Los Angeles County Flood Control District: fees. | Two-year bill |
Would allow the Los Angeles County Flood Control District to impose property assessments to fund storm management programs. While this bill does conform to the required constitutional voting requirements under Proposition 218, HJTA opposes it on the grounds that flood control districts should not be able to impose assessments as it represents a new vehicle for taxation. | |||
| Oppose | AB 155 | Local government: bankruptcy proceedings. | Defeated in the Senate Local Government Committee |
Prohibits local governments from declaring bankruptcy unless it is first approved by the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC). HJTA has long believed that local governments, as a matter of last resort, should have the ability to declare bankruptcy as a way to restructure union and pension contracts. Giving this authority to state agencies will place unnecessary hurdles in this process and will make difficult fiscal times for municipalities even worse. | |||
| Oppose | AB 178 | Sales and use taxes. | Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee |
Changes the definition of "retailer" in order to allow California state sales and use tax rates to be charged upon retailers who make in excess of $10,000 annually via the Internet. | |||
| Oppose | AB 267 | Education finance districts: taxes. | Vetoed |
Creates a new form of parcel taxation, an "Education Finance District," which allows multiple school districts to band together to try to reach the necessary two-thirds vote threshold. EFDs make it easier to approve parcel taxes, a very regressive exaction especially in the worst housing market in 70 years. | |||
| Oppose | AB 286 | Vehicles: additional registration fees. | Signed by Governor |
Extends from 2010 to 2018 the sunset date on the authority of counties to impose vehicle registration surcharges to fund vehicle theft prevention, investigation, and prosecution programs. Because it would extend a tax without voter approval, it also should require a two-thirds vote from affected residents. | |||
| Oppose | AB 338 | Transit village developments: infrastructure financing. | Vetoed by Governor |
Requires that Infrastructure Finance Districts (IFD) property tax increment revenue be used to fund transit village projects. Existing law requires that the creation of IFDs occur with a two-thirds vote. AB 338 lowers this threshold to a majority vote. HJTA believes property tax increment financing should be used on capital infrastructure projects, not low to moderate income housing projects. | |||
| Oppose | AB 436 | Elections: initiatives. | Vetoed |
Increases the amount it costs to submit an initiative measure from $200 to $2,000 by 2016, then adjusts that amount to inflation beginning in 2018. | |||
| Support | AB 480 | Bond acts: auditing. | Held (defeated in Senate Appropriations) |
Beginning in 2010, would authorize the Bureau of State Audits to conduct quarterly audits on all state bond measures. | |||
| Support | AB 641 | Approval of contracts. | Killed in Assembly Business and Professions Committee |
Requires the Legislature to abide by competitive bidding laws when they approve contracts for work on the State Capitol. | |||
| Support | AB 662 | California State Lottery: construction: salary reductions | Defeated in the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee |
Stops planning/construction of a new building for the California State Lottery, and instead redirects the funds to repair the existing building. | |||
| Support | AB 724 | Nonprobate transfers: revocable transfer upon death deeds | Defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee |
Establishes a Transfer Upon Death deed. This is especially important for older homeowners as it allows them to avoid potentially costly probate procedures. | |||
| Oppose | AB 847 | Sales tax: Adult Entertainment Venue Impact Fund. | Two-year bill |
Repeals the current sales and use tax exemption for sales made in California which are then shipped out of state. | |||
| Oppose | AB 985 | Real property: discriminatory restrictions. | Vetoed |
Establishes a $3 recording "tax-like fee" in order to remove racially insensitive language in title and other property documents. Note that earlier court decisions have already determined this language to be "dead" as a matter of law, making the establishment of a new fee to remove it largely irrelevant. | |||
| Oppose | AB 1000 | Employment: paid sick days. | Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee |
Requires employers to provide paid sick leave.
| |||
| Oppose | AB 1019 | Alcohol-Related Services Program. | Defeated in Assembly Health Committee |
Increases the tax on alcohol by 10 cents/drink. | |||
| Sponsor | AB 1024 | Legislature. | Two-year bill |
Requires that contracts approved by the Legislature meet Proposition 59 "Sunshine Act" and other open records act requirements. | |||
| Oppose | AB 1082 | Sales and use taxes: Domestic Violence Prevention and Sexual Abuse Fund: Domestic Abuser Surveillance Fund. | Two-year bill |
Establishes an additional 12% sales and use tax on pornography. | |||
| Oppose | AB 1125 | State employees: compensation. | Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee |
Compensation and benefits for state employees can continue after July 1, even without a budget. | |||
| Support | AB 1207 | Exemption from nonresident student tuition. | Two-year bill |
Would prohibit individuals here illegally to attend college and pay California resident tuition rates. | |||
| Support | AB 1277 | State bonds: sale. | Two-year bill |
Delays sale of General Obligation bonds until our debt service ratio (bond debt divided by total General Fund expenditures) drops below 6%. | |||
| Support | AB 1278 | Elections: initiatives. | Two-year bill |
Requires additional information to be placed in the ballot pamphlet (including bond debt interest payment amounts) by the LAO for every state bond measure. | |||
| Oppose | AB 1342 | Local taxation: income taxes: vehicle license fees. | Two-year bill |
Allows a local board of supervisors to impose either an income tax or vehicle license fee (VLF) increase by way of ordinance. Voter approval is not clearly specified in the bill. | |||
| Oppose | AB 1383 | Medi-Cal: hospital payments: quality assurance fees. | Signed |
Establishes a new "coverage dividend fee" on hospitals that lacks the appropriate nexus to be called a fee. For instance, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fee revenue is going to fund "children's healthcare services"—not something HJTA believes hospitals should be required to support. | |||
| Support | AB 1387 | Taxation: State Board of Equalization: Franchise Tax Board: burden of proof. | Defeated in Assembly Revenue and Taxation |
In tax cases, places the "burden of proof" regarding evidence on the state agency rather than the taxpayer. | |||
| Oppose | AB 1422 | Health care programs: California Children and Families Act of 1998. | Signed |
Establishes a 2.35% gross payroll tax on managed healthcare providers to help backfill Healthy Families cuts made by the Legislature in the July budget agreement. | |||
| Support | AB 1518 | State government: boards, commissions, committees: | Defeated in Assembly Business and Professions Committee |
Any boards, commissions or committees that have not established a quorum between January 1, 2008–January 1, 2010, will be eliminated. | |||
| Oppose | SB 1 | Health care coverage: children. | Two-year bill |
Establishes universal health care for children | |||
| Support | SB 8 | State finance: performance budgeting. | Two-year bill |
Creates a performance-based budget/auditing system for state agencies. | |||
| Support | SB 29 | State surplus property: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Two-year bill |
Requires California to sell off the portion of the Los Angeles Coliseum it owns.
| |||
| Oppose | SB 34 | Petitions: compensation for signatures. | Vetoed by Governor |
Establishes fines/jail time for individuals who collect or are paid to collect signatures for ballot measures on a per-signature basis. Creating largely volunteer signature-gathering efforts would make it far more difficult to qualify measures for the ballot. | |||
| Support | SB 37 | State employees: statement of deductions. | Signed by Governor |
Requires that all state employees who receive payment by direct deposit be required to receive pay stubs electronically. | |||
| Support | SB 125 | Undocumented criminal aliens: costs of incarceration: collection of data. | Killed in Senate Public Safety |
Requires California to bill to the federal government the cost of annually housing illegal immigrants. | |||
| Oppose | SB 160 | Student financial aid: institutional financial aid eligibility | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
Allows any undocumented student who has graduated from high school to qualify for financial aid. | |||
| Oppose | SB 205 | County transportation planning agency | Defeated in Senate Appropriations |
Authorizes a “county transportation planning agency” by majority voter approval, to impose an annual fee of up to $10 per car to administer a program to manage traffic congestion and pollution. As it should be a special tax, the majority vote provision is not sufficient under provisions of Proposition 13 | |||
| Oppose | SB 310 | Water quality: stormwater and other runoff. | Signed by Governor |
Attempts to sidestep Proposition 218 by establishing new regulatory fee increases against businesses to pay for storm water and urban runoff management improvements. Regulatory fee increases currently do not require a Proposition 218 election. | |||
| Support | SB 321 | Local government: assessments: election requirements. | Signed by Governor |
Establishes various provisions pertaining to assessment ballot elections, including notification of an official ballot being placed on the envelope, a definition of an impartial person who can count the ballots, and increased access/transparency into the ballot counting process. | |||
| Oppose | SB 60 | Vehicles: driver's licenses. | Two-year bill |
Would provide driver's licenses for illegal immigrants | |||
| Oppose | SB 402 | Recycling: California redemption value. | Vetoed |
Increases the California Redemption Value (CRV) rate for most cans and bottles over twenty ounces from five to ten cents. | |||
| Oppose | SB 676 | Local fees. | Signed |
Allows local governments to increase or establish a wide variety of fees in programs that were formerly controlled by state agencies. | |||
| Oppose | SB 406 | Land use: environmental quality. | Vetoed by Governor |
Authorizes a municipal planning organization or council of governments to adopt a resolution to impose a $2 motor vehicle registration surcharge on vehicles registered within that jurisdiction to fund regional blueprint plan creation. As there is no connection between car registrations and regional blueprint plans, this should be a special tax requiring a two-thirds vote of local residents. | |||
| Oppose | SB 558 | Alcohol Abuse Treatment Program Fund. | Two-year bill |
Establishes a 5-cents-per-drink tax for alcoholic beverages. | |||
| Support | SB 568 | Income and corporation taxes: capital gains. | Two-year bill |
Lowers the California capital gains rate to 2%. | |||
| Oppose | SB 635 | Marriage licenses: vital records: fees: domestic violence. | Signed by Governor |
Similar to AB 73, increases fees for marriage licenses to fund domestic violence prevention programs, in violation of Proposition 13. | |||
| Support | ACA 1 | Legislature. | Defeated in Assembly Budget Committee |
No legislative bill totaling over $150,000 (as determined by the Department of Finance) can be approved without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. | |||
| Oppose | ACA 14 | Initiative measures. | Two-year bill |
Would limit ballot measures on a statewide election ballot to five only. | |||
| Support | ACA 17 | University of California: severance and early retirement incentives. | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
Prohibits any employee of the University of California who receives any financial benefit with a value in excess of $50,000 as part of a temporary voluntary separation program from being employed by the university in any compensated capacity unless the employee first returns the benefit. | |||
| Oppose | ACR 54 | Education finance. | To Secretary of State for enrollment |
Assembly resolution that blames Proposition 13 for declines in education funding and also promotes a split roll. Contact Your Representatives | |||
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