79-03-A1
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Proposition 13 and the Post Commission I
TranscriptLast year in the spring primary election, the voters of California fired the first amazing shot in the nationwide taxpayers revolt. By a two-to-one margin they enacted Proposition 13, which cut property taxes in half and amended the California constitution to prohibit future property tax rate increases. The big spenders in Sacramento -- kissin' cousins to the ones in Washington -- were caught flat-footed. Nothing like this had happened before. Right up to election week, Governor Jerry Brown had proposed new spending programs and derided Proposition 13 as "patent medicine", "consumer fraud", and "a rip-off". But, when two thirds of the voters went against him, he was left with Hobson's choice. In just five months he faced reelection: should he stick to his liberal-spending principles and risk defeat, or should he foresake them in order to be reelected. So much for principle! In an about-face, Brown became, over night, a champion of Proposition 13 and a born-again tax cutter. He called for state tax cuts. He proposed a constitutional limit on all taxes and government spending. He turned over to local government the multi-billion dollar state surplus, which he had been accumulating for new state spending programs, and which the State Controller -- a member of Brown's own party -- had termed "obscene". Finally, and with much fanfare, Brown created a "blue ribbon" commission the Commission on Government Reform -- to tell him and the Legislature how to make Proposition 13 work. For awhile the strategy was successful. Brown was reelected. Despite property tax cuts, local governments were kept relatively fat and happy by the state surplus. Brown's reputation as a fiscal conservative and advocate of limited government grew by leaps and bounds. Then the Commission on Government Reform made its report. And what did this creation of born-again tax cutter recommend? Higher state taxes, increased state spending, and a takeover of local functions by state government -- exactly the things the people of California had said they did not want. Needless to say, the fanfare surrounding the commission was suddenly reduced, but not before the truth had been glimpsed. Brown's commission revealed what Brown's rhetoric denied: business as usual for the big spendiers. More taxes, more spending and more centralization. How did they arrive at those conclusions? Next time we'll examine how they commission worked, and why, despite the objections of its more responsible members, it concluded that the public should be damned. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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