The California Supreme Court ruled today that taxes proposed by special interests using the local initiative process may not have to comply with taxpayer protections set forth in Proposition 13 and Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act, an HJTA sponsored statewide measure approved by California voters in 1996.
In response to the Court’s just issued decision in the case of California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland, Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, issued the following statement:
“If local initiatives are exempt from critical taxpayer protections, then public agencies could easily deny taxpayers their rights by colluding with outside interests to propose taxes in the form of an initiative, then submitting a tax under a lower vote threshold than that currently mandated by the constitution. The worst case scenario would be if a local government were to rely on this case as legal authority to impose a tax without any election at all. However, if that were attempted, we would commence a new lawsuit immediately.”
“Ultimately, when taxpayers see how they are being burned by collusion between those seeking additional tax revenue, like government employee unions, and complicit local officials, it may be necessary to go back to the initiative process to close yet another court created loophole in Propositions 13 and 218.”
Jon Coupal
Jon Coupal is the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). HJTA, with offices in both Los Angeles and Sacramento, is the largest taxpayers association in California with a membership of over 200,000. Founded by the late Howard Jarvis, the author of Proposition 13, HJTA’s name is synonymous with tax relief and the uncompromising defense of the California homeowner.
From 1991 to 1998, Coupal served as Director of Legal Affairs for HJTA, overseeing the organization’s litigation and lobbying efforts. He is a recognized expert in California fiscal affairs and has argued numerous tax cases before the courts. Coupal also successfully defended Proposition 140, the state's term limit initiative, before the California Supreme Court. In 1995, he won a major ruling before the Supreme Court when it upheld the validity of Proposition 62, an HJTA sponsored initiative guaranteeing the right to vote on local taxes. He is also the principal drafter of Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act, a measure passed by the voters in November 1996. He has served as chairman of several initiative campaigns representing the interests of taxpayers including his most recent battle against Proposition 88, the statewide parcel tax initiative, defeated by the voters in November of 2006. Coupal is also Chairman of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Foundation which provides funding for taxpayer rights litigation and educational studies.
Coupal is a graduate of the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary, where he received his J.D. degree in 1982. After law school, he was an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation for nine years, specializing in tax issues and political law. He resides in Sacramento, California with his wife Catherine, daughter Elena and son Adam.
View more of Jon's writing in California Commentary.