by paulhogarth [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

With all the hype today on the 30-year anniversary of Prop 13 -- today's SF Chronicle wouldn't stop talking about it -- it's incredible that NOBODY is talking about rent control and how Prop 13 paved the way for it.  In today's Beyond Chron, I take my alma mater to task for hosting a one-day conference on Prop 13 without mentioning rent control.

I majored in political science at Cal - and while I had an excellent education, the Political Science Department was always a bit out of touch.  Today, UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies will host a one-day conference on the 30th Anniversary of Prop 13 - where a field of experts will evaluate its "political, economic and fiscal impacts."  Incredibly, none of them will talk about rent control (at least none of them are experts on it), although one of Prop 13's most significant effects was the passage of rent control ordinances in cities throughout California.  Tuesday's crushing defeat of Proposition 98 - sponsored by the same Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association that pushed Prop 13 in 1978 - demonstrates a statewide mandate for laws that protect tenants.  Any serious reflection on Prop 13's thirty-year legacy must involve rent control.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter Schrag

Joel Fox, the amiable former president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, used to complain vociferously about people who he thought blamed too many of California's problems on Proposition 13, the landmark property tax limitation measure that voters passed on June 6, 1978.

Fox, no fuming curmudgeon like Jarvis, who was the prime author of Proposition 13, was partially right. Proposition 13 did not cause every public service calamity of the last 30 years, much less the Northridge earthquake or the San Diego County wildfires.

But in the years since Proposition 13's passage, it has compounded California's governmental and fiscal mess something awful.

California's per pupil school spending, which was among the top 10 states in the 1960s, is now among the bottom 10. Proposition 13 alone is not responsible, but along with two major court decisions that preceded it, it helped decouple school funding from the local tax base and thus undercut voter incentives to fund education generously, as it had been in the generation after World War II. Our roads, once a national model, are an embarrassment.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

With just under 40% of the day of election precinct ballots counted, Proposition 98, placed on the ballot by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and bankrolled heavily by landlords in California is going down to a resounding defeat. It has the support of 42% of the votes counted and is being rejected by 58% of the vote. A map of the state shows it being defeated in all the major populous counties of California—including Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, and San Francisco—with the possible exception of Orange County where it is leading with just over 50% of the vote.

Voters at the same time have passed Proposition 99, an alternative measure dealing with eminent domain favored by the environmental community, local governments, and other groups. It is receiving over 64% of the vote and passing in all counties with the exception of Colusa County.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter Schrag

Thirty years ago, when Howard Jarvis drove Proposition 13 to a lopsided victory at the California polls, the old curmudgeon expended a fair amount of invective trying to prove that he was a real populist and not just a running dog for the Los Angeles Apartment Owners Association.

He was in fact employed by the apartment owners and his campaign was based there. But his argument was borne out by the fact that his shrewd direct mail campaign generated many thousands of small contributions from elderly homeowners fearful that they'd lose those homes to escalating property taxes. Many became members of what's now the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

But if Jarvis was in fact a real populist, his successors at HJTA, sponsors of Proposition 98 on the June 3 ballot, have a much harder time making the case.

The measure, which promises to restrain governments' use of eminent domain, would also end rent control in the 11 California cities that have it – a few others have some renter protections — and prohibit it forever more. Its big bucks support comes primarily from apartment owner groups, the owners of mobile home parks, real estate associations, the Farm Bureau and from HJTA itself.

by Calitics Editorial Board [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Proposition 98 claims to be about eminent domain and protecting the little people. But here at Calitics, we have reason to question the motives of Jon Coupal and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association. And once again, they are trying to hoodwink California voters.

Proposition 98 eliminates rent control and other renter protections, making living in California's cities out of reach for a greater percentage of our population. Prop 98 would also make protecting California's environment even harder than it is presently. The effects on governance, the environment, and tenants are simply disastrous. NO on 98.

Prop 99 is not ideal, but it is tolerable. It simply blocks the use of eminent domain to transfer owner-occupied homes to private developers. Nothing fancy, but it does have a nice provision that overrules Prop 98 if it gets one more vote.  It also has the potential to do the state a great favor by removing the issue of eminent domain from the ballot.   YES on 99.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In a direct web challenge to the ultra-right wing Flash Report, a group of establishment Republicans will soon start a new political blog designed to appeal to the more moderate wing of the Golden State GOP.

Pushing the new blog, which has yet to be named, is Joel Fox, a long-time Schwarzenegger backer. Fox heads the Small Business Action Committee, a small, mysterious pro-business group that was active in the workers comp overhaul that reduced worker benefits and in the Governor's 2005 failed special election effort. Fox previously was President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) and served as Director of Policy on the Riordan for Governor campaign. Just goes to show you how far right the California GOP has gone if the director of a moderate group is ex of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association!

Fox is expected to be joined in producing the blog by the leaders of the recently announced CRAFT group, which has splintered from the California Republican Party to recruit "moderate" Republicans. CRAFT also is tied closely to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It should be no surprise that establishment Republicans are seeking a presence on the Internet. While Democrats have at least three statewide blogs (Calitics, California Progress Report, and this one), Republicans have only one, The Flash Report published by Jon Fleischman.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Dave Johnson
Speak Out California

At Speak Out California, we have been writing quite a bit about democracy and about the meaning of the words "We, the People."

Decades of conservative/corporate marketing has convinced too many of us to think of ourselves as passive consumers rather than participatory citizens. This thinking has brought with it numerous negative consequences. But if we work to restore our understanding that WE are "the government" we can start to see our state and country the way the founders intended. We can see that we are in control and can make decisions that increase the benefits we receive as citizens.

In a recent post, The Power of the Words "We, the People" , I wrote: “As an experiment, try substituting the words, "We, the People" every time you read or use the word "government." Or use the word "our" instead of "the" when you say "the government." Our government, us, we, the people.”

Later in that post I wrote: “Conservatives have worked hard to make "government" a bad word. They complain about "big government." They complain about "government schools." But what happens when we substitute a form of "We, the People" into their slogans? The whole meaning seems to change.”