Advocating for California Taxpayers: The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
We all want to keep more of our money. That’s pretty much a given. Even people who vote for higher taxes really want to keep more of their money. (Like a lifelong liberal who used to have stuff mailed to our house so he could escape Massachusetts’ shipping tax.) Each year on April 15, we grunt and groan as we calculate percentages and sign forms and look frantically for tax deductions. When it’s all over, we sigh, “If only I didn’t have to pay these taxes!”
This is especially true in California, which “boasts” one of the most liberal state legislatures, very high tax rates, and the most expensive zip code in the Union. And if you think it’s bad now, imagine what it would be like without the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Since its founding in 1978, the HJTA has saved California taxpayers over $528 billion, which means savings of $57,000 for the average California family.
Joel Fox, past president of the HJTA, says that the Association started out as the California Tax Reduction Movement, but after Jarvis’s death in 1986, Fox decided to rename the organization the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association because it would be “a recognition of his accomplishments.”
The HJTA started with Howard and Estelle Jarvis’ Proposition 13, which reduced California’s property tax by 57 percent. Fox said the Jarvises realized that “there needed to be a group in place that would defend the taxpayers’ rights. [The HJTA] was founded as a stalwart to make sure the victory didn’t disappear overnight.”
Throughout its 30-year history, the HJTA has fought for many propositions to reduce taxes, including Proposition 7 (savings of $82 billion) and Proposition 218, which expanded the protections provided by Proposition 13. Aside from Proposition 13, Fox believes Proposition 218 is the Association’s biggest victory because it reaffirmed the right to vote on tax increases. In 2006, the HJTA led the fight against Proposition 56, which would have struck down Proposition 13.
The HJTA today dedicates itself to advocating for taxpayers’ rights through ballots and initiatives to keep taxes lower, flatter, and fairer. Currently, they are working on preserving Proposition 13 in the face of a budget problem in the state, which has led some legislators to want to change the law.
One way the Association works to preserve taxpayers’ rights is through legislative action. Their legislative office in Sacramento reviews all bills regarding taxes to determine if they are helpful or harmful. They take decisive action against bills that would raise taxes and support bills that would lower taxes and protect taxpayers’ rights, although these bills often die before becoming law (surprise, surprise). The legislative office also delivers petitions from taxpayers asking for taxes to be lowered.
In addition, the HJTA sponsors presidential debates and conferences on tax issues, and conducts numerous studies on the effectiveness of lower taxes and private contracting.
The HJTA also provides resources for citizens who want to roll up their sleeves and get involved themselves. Their website offers plenty of taxpayer action tools with how-tos for defeating and repealing taxes, as well as calling out and stopping illegal government spending.
Of course, however, no good deed goes unpunished. Despite all the good work the Association does, particularly in regard to Proposition 13, they have drawn some criticism.
“A lot of things that go wrong in California are based on Proposition 13,” Fox said.
The most outlandish was a 1995 column in the New Republic in which Robert White blamed Proposition 13 for the outcome of the OJ Simpson trial. Because the proposition cut taxes, White reasoned that Simpson was acquitted because the officials in charge could not get adequate salaries.
“Even many opponents of Prop 13 think that’s silly,” Fox said.
Some may not like to admit it, but economies do better when people are allowed to keep their money. (Case in point: how many great life-changing inventions came out of the Soviet Union?) For its tireless efforts to ensure that more of California’s money goes to its citizens instead of its government, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association deserves high praise indeed.
