Loren Kaye on Fox & Hounds

• High Court Ruling Raises Questions on Passage of Local Special Taxes  August 16, 2018
  How many voters does it take to pass a local special tax? Since Proposition 13 in 1978, voters have had the final say on local tax increases. A subsequent initiative passed in 1996, Proposition 218, further required most local tax measures to gain approval by two-thirds of voters, whether proposed by a local government agency […]
• The Legislature Nose-to-Nose with Ballot Initiatives July 3, 2018
  The talk of the Capitol last week was of “the Hertzberg bill,” which changed the calendar for certain activities related to ballot measures, with the intent to ease legislative fixes to proposed ballot measures – if proponents were amenable. Though the bill was enacted in 2014, the new process hasn’t been employed until this year, when […]
• Breaking Up is Hard to Do – and Should be June 15, 2018
  Tim Draper believes California is three states struggling within the boundaries of one, and wants to set them free. Voters will have the chance in November to decide if they share his vision that more governments make better governance. Spoiler Alert: Breaking up is hard to do – which is a very good thing. The […]
• The Split Roll Property Tax May be on Ice, but Make Way for the Split Roll Sales Tax. May 14, 2018
  Senator Bob Hertzberg last week unveiled a long-promised “modernization” of the state sales tax, but it’s mostly just an old-fashioned tax shift from shoppers to businesses. The guts of the plan are simple: over a three-year transition period, cut the existing state sales tax rate by two percentage points (from 4.75% to 2.75%) and enact a new […]
• Privacy Initiative Won’t Stem Internet Abuses April 26, 2018
  It’s not surprising that proponents of the so-called “California Consumer Privacy Act” would want to draw attention to the latest controversies around internet privacy. Not surprising – but dishonest. The initiative has nothing to do with the situation in the headlines. The ballot measure would not have prevented it and doesn’t even contemplate the scenario. […]