By Jon Coupal – July 5, 2023
I’m writing today with an urgent request regarding Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1 (ACA 1), the proposed constitutional amendment that would make it easier to raise local taxes for anything labeled “infrastructure” and for certain public housing projects.
ACA 1 is a direct attack on Proposition 13. It would change the state Constitution to cut the percentage of votes needed to raise special taxes, dropping it from the current two-thirds required under Prop. 13 to only 55%. That makes it much easier for tax-raisers who want to take more and more of your money. “Infrastructure” can be anything government wants to do.
ACA 1 will be heard in the Assembly Local Government Committee on Wednesday, July 12. You can help defeat this dangerous measure.
Please call the committee members (their phone numbers are below) and urge them to vote NO on ACA 1. Tell them it’s a tax increase, and worse—it’s an engine to raise taxes over and over again in every local election, just by calling any government spending “infrastructure,” even if it’s really for salaries, programs, or to free up existing revenue to cover pension liabilities.
Members of the Assembly Local Government Committee
Juan Carrillo (Chair) – 916-319-2039
Diane Dixon (Vice Chair) – 916-319-2072
Tasha Boerner – 916-319-2077
Matt Haney – 916-319-2017
Blanca Pacheco – 916-319-2064
James Ramos – 916-319-2045
Marie Waldron – 916-319-2075
Lori Wilson – 916-319-2011
You can also write to the committee by submitting your public comments through the committee’s online portal, either by writing comments in the text box, or by uploading a letter. If thousands of individuals submit comments or letters to the committee stating that they oppose ACA 1 because TAXES ARE TOO HIGH IN CALIFORNIA ALREADY, it is likely to get the committee’s attention. Here’s the link for the online portal: https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/
You may want to call your own representatives in the Assembly and the Senate and urge them to oppose ACA 1. : (Editor’s Note: 2ND DISTRICT ASSEMBLYMAN JIM WOOD (707) 445-7014 & SENATOR MIKE McGUIRE 707-445-6508)
Jon Coupal is President of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association