Posts Tagged: Jon Coupal

2018 elections: Voters eye deluge of water money

The Owens River cuts through the Owens Valley near the east slope of the Sierra. (Photo: Bart Everett)

by LISA RENNER posted 04.24.2018

California voters may be asked this year to approve $13 billion in two separate water bonds that promise to pay for safe drinking water and improve flood protection. Proposition 68 is a $4.1 billion measure and is already set for the June 5 ballot. The Water Supply and Water Quality Act is an $8.9 billion bond and could come up for a vote in November. The Secretary of State’s office is reviewing the signatures turned in and should decide by the end of the month whether it qualifies for the ballot.

‘Split roll,’ the ghost of Prop. 13, haunts 2018

The late Paul Gann, center, and Howard Jarvis clasp their hands in victory as their ballot initiative, Proposition 13, takes a commanding lead on election night, June 7, 1978. (AP Photo)

by LISA RENNER posted 03.13.2018

Months after President Trump slashed corporations’ federal tax rate, a coalition of progressive California groups is hoping to raise their property taxes. The Schools and Communities First Coalition, which includes the League of Women Voters, Evolve California and other organizations, is seeking signatures to put an initiative on the ballot that would institute a “split roll” property tax system.

Gas tax fuels 2018 political fight

Traffic on the 405 in Los Angeles, the nation's busiest freeway. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

by LISA RENNER posted 12.12.2017

California’s new gas tax hike to fund billions of dollars worth of overdue road repairs has only been in effect for a little over a month but Republicans are already trying to overturn it. On Nov. 1, Senate Bill 1, signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in the spring after a fierce political battle, increased the excise tax on gas by 12 cents a gallon and the excise tax on diesel fuel by 20 cents a gallon.