California voters are historically resistant to statewide tax measures. But last week, they approved two of them – Propositions 30 and 39. Democratic strategist Jason Kinney said that’s probably not a new trend.
“I think this was a one-time situation," commented Kinney. "The voters were tired of hearing about the annual budget crisis.”
Voters also approved more than seventy-percent of local tax and bond measures on last week’s ballot. But Jon Coupal with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said that’s consistent with previous years.
“There’s far more trust in local government, and that’s why you see consistently higher passage rates for local measures than you do for state tax increases," said Coupal. "Obviously, we haven’t had a state tax increase in a long time.”
Coupal and Kinney said it’s unlikely that voters would be willing to make changes to the landmark property tax measure Proposition 13. They both call it the electric “third rail” of California politics.
