Repeal the Death Tax collects over 402,000 signatures, but will miss the November 2022 ballot. 

Repeal the Death Tax collects over 402,000 signatures; will miss the November 2022 ballot

 

Thank you so very much for volunteering to collect signatures to Repeal the Death Tax!

The team at HJTA has been counting petitions for days and we now have a final total of 402,175 signatures. That's a very strong showing, but unfortunately it's short of the 997,139 needed to qualify for the November 2022 ballot. We sent out a news release a few hours ago; you can read it below.

Because of your outstanding efforts, we exceeded the important legal threshold of collecting 25% of the required signatures, and that triggers a requirement for the Legislature to hold an informational hearing on our measure. It is possible for the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment with a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and the Senate, which would then go on the ballot for voter approval. That remains a possibility for 2022. Any new effort at an initiative would be for the November 2024 ballot. HJTA is currently reviewing all data from the campaign and considering next steps. 

In his book, "I'm Mad as Hell," Howard Jarvis wrote about the signature drive in 1977 that ultimately led to the passage of Proposition 13. "A lot of people were skeptical, and they certainly had a right to be," he wrote. "The politicians, in particular, didn't take us seriously. After all, we'd had four petitions before, and none of them had gotten on the ballot."

That's right. It took five tries before Proposition 13 qualified for the ballot. 

We have made amazing progress in this effort. Thank you for everything you've done to help Repeal the Death Tax. We greatly appreciate you, and we will keep you informed of developments.

Thank you again for being a part of this remarkable grassroots campaign. 

Sincerely,

Susan Shelley
VP, Communications
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Susan@hjta.org
www.RepealTheDeathTax.com
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News release: HJTA announces Repeal the Death Tax Act will miss the November 2022 ballot

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association announced today that its Repeal the Death Tax initiative did not secure the needed signatures in time to qualify for the November ballot, but lauded the efforts of more than 13,000 volunteers who collected over 402,000 signatures to reverse the tax hike that was a little-known provision of 2020’s Proposition 19.

“This is a remarkable grassroots effort,” said HJTA president Jon Coupal, “it has been growing by leaps and bounds, but we just ran out of calendar before we got there.”

The Repeal the Death Tax Act would restore the ability of parents to pass their home and a limited amount of other property to their children without reassessment, keeping the tax bill the same.
Reassessment to current market value can result in a tax increase so steep that children are forced to sell the property.

The measure needed 997,139 valid signatures of registered voters by May 3 to qualify for the 2022 ballot. The campaign collected more than 25% of the needed signatures, a threshold that triggers a required informational hearing in the Legislature.

“We have found that many people are still unaware of the nasty tax hike that is now imposed on families who have just lost a parent,” Coupal said. “As more and more Californians learned about the change to the law, our phones rang off the hook and our volunteer sign-ups increased exponentially.”

Coupal said the organization is studying all the data from the campaign and considering next steps.