I received the email below from Assemblyman Josh Hoover. In it, he opposes the attack on Prop.13 by the Democrats. They want to lower the vote totals needed to pass tax increases. He also notes his opposition to Prop. 47, a ballot measure that protects criminals. It looks like Hoover is willing to take on the California Republican Party!
What? The Patterson/O’Reilly approved Draft GOP Platform no longer opposes Prop. 47, they have taken the side of the Democrats. The proposed Platform only says it “supports Prop.13 (1978)” without explaining how the Democrats are marginalizing Prop. 13 with efforts like lowering the votes needed to pass tax increases.
His problem is going to be in the November, 2024 election—when he goes to his constituents and explains his support for Prop. 13 and opposition to Prop.47. His Democrat opponent will be able to accurately point out that his own Party does not oppose Prop.47 or really support Prop. 13—they will make him an extremist, going against his own Party.
This can be corrected if Assembly Hoover provides an amendment to the proposed Platform. He should also be aware the Patterson/O’Reilly Platform no longer even mentions election integrity. Since he won his seat by just a few votes, this should be important to him.
Assemblyman Hoover: I Oppose Attacks on Prop. 13 and the Taxpayers
Assemblyman Josh Hoover, 9/7/23 https://ad07.asmrc.org/
Dear Steve,
The Supermajority in the Assembly reached new levels of hypocrisy this week. They simultaneously passed a constitutional amendment to reduce the vote threshold for local tax increases (ACA 1) then passed another constitutional amendment to increase the vote threshold for passing taxpayer protections (ACA 13). No matter how high our taxes get in California, it never seems to be enough. Instead of increasing the cost of living in our state even further, our Legislature would be wise to get a handle on its propensity to over spend. Thankfully, these measures can still be stopped in the State Senate or rejected by voters at the ballot box.
If they do make it to the ballot, however, they will likely get a favorable title and summary from the Attorney General. You may remember that the infamous Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for shoplifting and created a nightmare for small businesses, was presented to voters as the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” This is because California allows a partisan official to write the ballot title and summary that appears on every voter’s ballot. My colleague Senator Roger Niello has introduced SCA 3 to fix this by transferring this authority to the non-partisan Legislative Analyst. While it did hit a speed bump this year in the Senate Appropriations Committee, we both remain committed to pushing this forward in future years.
The Legislature is currently considering hundreds of other bills during End of Session before we adjourn for the year on September 14th. I previewed the Top 10 “bills to watch” on my podcast this week, you can watch or listen here if you are interested in learning about some of the legislation we will be debating over the next couple weeks.
I will continue fighting to protect taxpayers over these final days of session, it is an honor to represent you.
Sincerely,
Josh Hoover
Assemblyman, 7th District
In a true democracy it just takes 1 vote over 50% to approve anything or reject something. In California’s emotional democracy the 1 overrule is not acceptable if someone is on the opposite side of the proposition. True democracy is the majority, 50% plus 1, not 2/3 or 60%. Regarding the proposition naming, California voters too often vote based on sound bites. They need to learn to read the propositions and base their votes on the written words, not what sounds good for a title.
Well said!