Argument in Favor of Proposition 37

Vote YES on Proposition 37 to STOP HIDDEN TAXES!

Vote YES on Proposition 37 to REQUIRE CITY AND COUNTY POLITICIANS TO GET VOTER PERMISSION BEFORE RAISING YOUR TAXES!

Vote YES on Proposition 37 to REQUIRE STATE POLITICIANS TO GET TWO-THIRDS LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL BEFORE RAISING YOUR TAXES!

Current law makes it easy for politicians to raise your taxes by calling them fees. What's the difference between a tax on gasoline, utilities, food, property or household products and a government-imposed fee on those necessities? Nothing! But by calling them fees, POLITICIANS CAN RAISE YOUR TAXES without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a vote of the people.

Proposition 37 means that politicians must be MORE ACCOUNTABLE TO TAXPAYERS. You, the taxpayer, will decide if you want to pay more in local fees on goods or services that you use. At the state level, politicians who want to create new programs funded by tax-like fees must justify those fees to a two-thirds majority of the State Legislature.

Proposition 37 will reduce the threat of bigger government, bureaucratic waste and higher prices for consumers.

WE PAY ENOUGH TAXES IN CALIFORNIA. Gasoline taxes, utility taxes, income taxes, property taxes, inheritance taxes, insurance taxes, motor vehicle taxes, cable television taxes, parking taxes, tourism taxes, telephone taxes. The list goes on and on.

TAXPAYERS SHOULD HAVE A VOICE IN HOW OUR MONEY IS SPENT. Government seems to have an endless appetite for new programs—some good, some not so good. Once in place, they are almost impossible to get rid of—and taxpayers keep paying and paying and paying. Proposition 37 makes certain taxpayers know what they're paying for.

A YES vote on Proposition 37 will make it tougher for politicians to force you to pay for their pet projects. A YES vote means YOU DECIDE which programs are worth paying for with your tax dollars.

Here are some of the fees that consumers and taxpayers could pay if we don't vote YES to stop these hidden taxes:

– Fees on fast food to pay for litter clean-up.

– Fees on aspirin to pay for poison control centers.

– Fees on fatty foods to pay for health programs.

– Fees on movie tickets to pay for parks and recreation programs.

– Fees on automobiles to pay for accident prevention and investigation.

– Fees on cell phones to study possible health effects. On two occasions, California voters said that new taxes should be subject to a two-thirds vote of the State Legislature and local taxes should be approved by the local electorate. A YES vote on Proposition 37 says that government-imposed "fees" should be subject to the same standards as government-imposed taxes.

The California Taxpayers' Association calls Proposition 37, "the most important taxpayer protection the people of California can have."

Join taxpayers, consumers, farmers and businesses. Vote YES on Proposition 37.

LARRY MCCARTHY, President
California Taxpayers' Association
DAVID MOORE, President
Western Growers Association
SUSAN CORRALES-DIAZ, Director
California Chamber of Commerce