Jon Coupal Urges California Voters to Pass Proposition 43

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, is campaigning for the passage of Proposition 43 to protect California taxpayers from local tax increases. The measure aims to close a legal loophole established by a 2017 Supreme Court of California decision in California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland, which permitted voter-proposed local special taxes to pass with a simple majority instead of the traditional two-thirds requirement.

If approved, Proposition 43 would restore the two-thirds vote requirement for all voter-proposed local special taxes approved after January 1, 2027. Coupal argues that the current legal environment allows organized interests to raise taxes without broad public consensus.

To illustrate the need for the measure, Coupal points to several active tax proposals, including the Regional Transit Measure, Berkeley's Measure AA, and El Dorado County's Measure S. He also cites Los Angeles' Measure ULA, a real estate transfer tax that was implemented via a simple majority initiative, as an example of the loophole in practice.