The tax group, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), lost its mandamus appeal with the California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District after seeking to remand the trial court’s decision, which declined to address Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s alleged biased ballot language concerning Proposition (Prop) 15.
“We used to win well over half of our cases but lately with the California judiciary becoming more and more populated with Gov. Newsom and Brown appointees, we've seen a significant move leftward by the California judiciary,” said Jon Coupal, president of HJTA. “The good news is we've seen the federal judiciary move more conservatively. Even the ninth circuit, which had a horrible reputation as being very progressive, has become far, far more balanced. So, to the extent we can bring some of these cases in federal court, that is probably what will we will start doing, which is unfortunate because the case should be resolved in the law not based on the political proclivities of the bench.”
The specific deficiencies of Prop 15 that are named in the complaint include the ballot label as well as the title and summary.
"We've been watching for a long time as Attorney General Becerra and some of his predecessors have used manipulative political language in ballot titles and summaries," said Susan Shelley, vice president of communications with HJTA. "We watched this happen with Proposition 6 a couple of years ago, which was going to repeal an increase in the gas tax. Instead of titling it 'Repeals higher gas tax,' he titled it something like 'Removes funding for road repair.'
Prop 15’s ballot title, for example, does not reportedly state that it would raise taxes on commercial and industrial property in order to increase funding for school and government services. Instead, it states that the ballot measure will change tax assessment.
Superior Court Judge James P. Arguelles ruled the ballot language was misleading but stopped short of issuing a corrective order, according to media reports.
“There's been quite a bit of interest expressed in taking that responsibility away from the attorney general and giving it to the legislature, which is something that we would very much support because we really need a neutral, impartial interest to prepare the ballot, summary and label,” Coupal told the Southern California Record.
As previously reported, if passed by voters on Nov. 3, the ballot initiative would change property tax reforms from 1978’s Proposition (Prop) 13 by limiting property taxes to 1% of the purchase price and prevent annual increases from exceeding 2%. Currently, when a property is sold, it is reassessed at present cash value.
“What was particularly troublesome with this particular case on Prop 15 was that the judge acknowledged the content was somewhat misleading but did not think that it rose to the level of something that was beyond the discretion of the attorney general,” said Coupal in an interview. “It was disappointing but we gave it a shot. We knew it was an uphill battle. Right now, the polling looks pretty good for us. It just makes getting the truth out there a little bit more difficult.”