WILL THE 2/3 SUPERMAJORITY DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATURE ELIMINATE PROP. 13 - PROPERTY TAX RELIEF ACT?

With voter approval November 6, 2012, the Democrats won both chambers of the California Assembly and Senate needed to give them a 2/3 supermajority. Assemblyman Chris Norby, educator for the reform and abolition of Statewide Redevelopment Agencies lost his Assembly seat. This one party system is very troubling and will give the Democrats great power to eliminate or change Prop. 13 (Property Tax Relief Act), pass bills and create new laws behind closed doors, override the Governor’s veto power, and reinstate past bills the Governor vetoed like Senator Wolk’s SB 214 Infrastructure Financing Districts; Steinberg’s SB 1156 Sustainable Communities Investment Authorities giving special districts like schools power to build and create debt without the vote of the people; and other bills that will resurrect the greatest abuse of power known as Statewide Redevelopment Agencies. This is real and a threat to all us no matter what party affiliation we are.

These issues are non partisan and we all must get involved and fight for our rights, freedom, and liberty. Two bills that rule how California General Plan Updates (zoning and land use) must be implemented is Nunez/Pavley AB 32 that became law in 2006 (Global Warming/Climate Change) and Steinberg’s SB 375 that became law in 2008 connects land use to AB 32 Implementation. These two bills created a new job for the California Air Resources Board giving them unknown power and authority to force businesses, farmers, and homeowners to reduce their greenhouse gases/carbon footprint to 1990 standards, and if we can’t we will be forced to buy Carbon Credits at whatever the going rate is.

Has this European Style Socialist Legislature created standards that are impossible to reach? Our forests will be used as Mitigation for the big polluters, who will pay, but will continue to pollute. Smaller businesses will be forced out of business with this added cost. Carbon Credits (a tax) are like a commodity that will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange with Traders eager for the Auctions.

In March a friend and I attended a climate change workshop in the City of Sacramento where 3 women volunteered to be tutored for a year to help them reduce their carbon footprint.

Volunteer #1 with a husband and children sold and replaced their large two story home, large lot, and green grass for a smaller one story home with no grass, sold their SUV and larger car for a smaller car, better gas mileage, and had to limit visits to out of town parents and family in order to reduce their carbon footprint to whatever rating they were required to meet.

Volunteer #2 was a woman who said she was able to reduce her footprint, but had to trade something in order to make a trip to Europe.

Volunteer #3 was an Asian college student, who lived in an apartment, gone most of the time, and used her bicycle for transportation. She was unable to reduce her carbon footprint. If this is our future in California and the U.S, I object and refuse to become a Socialist Style Government and will fight even harder than I am now. I heard President Obama is also considering a Carbon Tax. If so, extortion can easily be used, if States, Cities, and Counties want to collect Transportation and Housing funds. I wept for American after hearing the results November 6, 2012.

Karen Klinger - Property Rights Advocates, Sacramento Area