Action Alert: Call in to this Senate hearing on Tuesday to support HJTA’s wildfire prevention bill!

An important bill sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association will be heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee tomorrow morning, April 5. The hearing begins at 9:00 a.m. If you can, please call in and express your support for SCA 8. The participant phone number is: 877-226-8163. The access code is: 7362833. Upon calling in, you will be placed in a “waiting room” where you will be muted but you can listen to the committee hearing as you wait.

SCA 8 is a constitutional amendment that would dedicate 1% of the state’s General Fund to the important priority of wildfire prevention and fire department staffing.

SCA 8 would replace the fire funding gimmick that was part of Proposition 19 – a small and uncertain slice of the revenue raised by increasing property taxes on families who have just lost a parent – with a reliable, far more generous funding source. SCA 8 would not raise taxes.

Outrageously, the California Professional Firefighters union sent a letter to the bill’s author, Sen. Jim Nielsen, today declaring that they are opposed to SCA 8. The letter, signed by the group’s lobbyist, states that the union opposes the bill because it is “tied to a proposed initiative measure that would rescind portions of Proposition 19 from 2020.”

The firefighters’ union is opposing an increase in funding for firefighters because they don’t like our Repeal the Death Tax initiative. The letter asserts that the death tax closed “existing loopholes” that were “exploited by the wealthy to avoid paying proper taxes on their vacation homes.”

As you well know, the death tax applies to every property in California and hits every family. Under Prop. 19, every property that is passed from parents to children is now reassessed to market value, with only limited exceptions. That means children who can’t afford the new annual property tax bill will be forced to sell family property that their parents worked hard to secure for them. This affects family homes and small businesses, including small apartment buildings that now will be reassessed to current market value when inherited. That could mean rent increases or even eviction for the tenants if the buildings are sold.

With your help, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is working to get the Repeal the Death Tax initiative on the November ballot. HJTA supports SCA 8 to ensure that firefighting is fully funded without a tax increase.

Please take a moment tomorrow morning to call in to the hearing and state your support for SCA 8 to fully fund firefighting without a tax increase.

You may also wish to call the committee chairman, Sen. Henry Stern, who has indicated that he may support SCA 8, and committee member Sen. Bob Hertzberg, who has been an impediment to fixing Proposition 19.

Sen. Henry Stern: 916-651-4027
Sen. Bob Hertzberg: 916-651-4018

Once again, the committee hearing begins at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 5, and here’s the call-in information and committee website for more information:

Participant phone number: 877-226-8163
Access Code: 7362833  
https://sntr.senate.ca.gov/

With urgent thanks,

Jon Coupal
President, HJTA