Endorsements and ballot-measure recommendations:

Click here for a printable PDF of the endorsements below

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC
has endorsed these candidates
for the June 5, 2018, Primary Election:

John Cox
Governor

Jack Guerrero
State Treasurer

Warren Gubler
Assembly District 26

Jay Obernolte
Assembly District 33

Andrew Kotyuk
Assembly District 42

Roxanne Hoge
Assembly District 46

Burton Brink
Assembly District 49

Phillip Chen
Assembly District 55

Mike Simpfenderfer
Assembly District 58

Bill Essayli
Assembly District 60

Alexandria Coronado
Assembly District 65

Frank Scotto
Assembly District 66

John Moore
Assembly District 79

Andreas Borgeas
Senate District 8

Robert Poythress
Senate District 12

Brandon Saario
Senate District 18

Rita Topalian
Senate District 32

Doug LaMalfa
U.S. Congressional District 1

Mimi Walters
U.S. Congressional District 45

Diane Harkey
U.S. Congressional District 49

Ted Gaines
Board of Equalization District 1

Joel Anderson
Board of Equalization District 4

Joe Harn
El Dorado County Auditor-Controller

Shari Freidenrich
Orange County Treasurer

Claude Parrish
Orange County Assessor

Jan C. Harnik
Riverside County Board of Supervisors
District 4

Jeff Hewitt
Riverside County Board of Supervisors
District 5

Janice Rutherford
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors
District 2

Curt Hagman
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors
District 4

Ensen Mason
San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector

Lynn Compton
San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors
District 4
 

Local and Regional Measures

Recall Election, Senate District 29
YES to the recall of Josh Newman

Regional Measure 3 (nine Bay Area counties)
NO
Why we’re against it: Regional Measure 3 proposes another $3 increase in Bay Area bridge tolls, placing an inhumane burden on low-wage commuters who must cross bridges each day to reach a job where they can’t afford to live. Over 80% of the toll increase will not help motorists, but will go to subsidize public transit, like trains and ferries, that many motorists can’t use. Existing tolls yield billions that are diverted from fixing traffic problems to questionable pet projects of the unaccountable, appointed board that is proposing the $3 increase. Let’s make that board accountable to voters first.

Measure C, Irvine
YES
Why we’re for it: This measure would change the city charter to require a two-thirds vote of the city council to put a tax increase on the ballot for voter approval. Currently the required threshold is a majority vote. We support this measure because requiring a two-thirds vote of the Irvine City Council before a tax increase can be put before voters helps to protect taxpayers.
 

Statewide Measures

Proposition 68
NO
Why we’re against it: Proposition 68 would allow the state to borrow $4 billion by selling general obligation bonds to investors, then repaying the debt with interest. The state Legislative Analyst estimates that the interest cost will total $3.8 billion, and the cost to taxpayers will be $200 million per year for 40 years. The money would be used for parks, natural resource protection programs, climate adaptation, water quality and flood protection.

HJTA isn’t opposed to all bonds, but we think projects funded with bond dollars should last at least as long as the debt obligation, typically 40 years. Otherwise your kids will spend their lives paying off the debt for something that is long gone.

California’s debt service ratio, the amount of money we spend out of our General Fund solely to pay off bond debt each year, is slightly over five percent. That’s five percent of funds not supporting our colleges, our prisons, pensions or any other priorities.

There’s not a good track record regarding how previous bond dollars have been spent. In 2006, voters approved Proposition 84, a $5.4 billion bond of which $400 million went to fund 126 park projects, predominately in low-income communities. According to a recent analysis done by the California Natural Resources Agency, 42 projects remain in progress 12 years after the bond was approved. HJTA believes bond money should be spent in a timely manner and fund projects that last the length of the bond.

Proposition 69
NO
Why we’re against it: Proposition 69 was placed on the ballot the same day the SB 1 gas and car tax increase was approved in 2017. Supporters want you to believe that it 100% guarantees that the gas and car taxes can only be spent on repairing and maintaining roads. But the measure has loopholes that can be easily exploited. It is fake reform. Consider:

• Proposition 69 exempts all the new gas and car tax revenue from applying against the Gann Spending Limit. The more taxes we exempt out of the limit, the more worthless it becomes as a method to control spending.
• If any future state General Obligation transportation bonds are approved by voters, under Proposition 69 they can be paid for with money from the car tax out of SB 1. Voters have long said that they want gas and car tax money to go toward repairing and maintaining our roads, not paying off bond debt.

Currently, a billion dollars a year worth of truck weight fees (fees truckers pay because they tear up our roads) are being diverted to pay off bond debt, and some of the money is even going into California’s General Fund. It’s not being used to repair and maintain roads. Proposition 69 could have easily altered this, but does not.

Proposition 72
YES
Why we’re for it: Proposition 72 would create a property-tax exemption for rainwater-capture systems, allowing property owners to purchase and install rainbarrels and other water-capture solutions without facing higher property taxes for that improvement to their property. This is similar to existing exemptions for seismic retrofit and solar energy installations.
 
Upcoming Elections:

June 5, 2018
– Statewide Direct Primary Election
– Special Election runoff in Assembly Districts 39 and 45
– Recall Election of Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, in Senate District 29

November 6, 2018
General Election

 Paid for by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association State PAC

Paid for by No New Taxes, a Project of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Paid for by Californians Against Car and Gas Tax Hikes, a Committee to Recall Josh Newman, sponsored and funded by No New Taxes, a Project of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

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