February 26, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — February 26, 2026
What you need to know:
- The anti-democratic initiative submitted by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the California Business Roundtable (CBRT) would overturn local revenue measures that passed with majority support and which today fund public services like parks, firefighting, homelessness prevention and affordable housing
- If the “Taxpayer Deception Act” advances to the ballot and passes, it will tear a hole in local budgets to the tune of $2 billion
- Don’t believe state and local officials who want to take this opportunity to weaken Los Angeles’s voter-passed homelessness prevention and affordable housing measure ULA. Their case is nonsense: the Jarvis measure’s proponents and funders have turned down proposed compromises, and its billionaire, Trump-supporting backers’ agenda is unpopular
- Instead, Californians who want to protect public services should pass ACA13 on the November 2026 ballot, which would make groups who want to strip public services win supermajority votes if they want to require supermajority votes
- Real estate has had decades of exemptions from paying their full tax burden, and voters should have the right to raise revenue by asking billionaires and the real estate lobby to pay their full share
Pull quote:
“The Taxpayer Deception Act is the poison, but ACA13 is the cure,” said Joe Donlin, executive director of the United to House LA Coalition. “This November, we can vote down the Jarvis proposal and also restore majority rule for Californians who want to invest in parks, firefighters, affordable housing and other public services.”
Full statement:
Today, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association submitted signatures to put an initiative on the November 2026 California ballot that would slash revenue for firefighters, parks, and other vital services up and down the state of California.
The Jarvis initiative is an anti-democratic backlash to California voters using their constitutional right to raise badly needed revenue, and Los Angeles’s Measure ULA is among the most notable of their targets.
A large majority of Los Angeles voters chose to address a mammoth social problem at the great scale that it deserves. Today, Measure ULA is building housing, preventing homelessness, and creating jobs. It’s helping the people most vulnerable to our housing and homelessness crisis. For this, the real estate industry and the HJTA have never forgiven us.
We don’t have to take this assault lying down. Californians can protect our democracy by supporting the ACA13 initiative on the November ballot. If ACA13 passes, it will mean an end to anti-democratic measures that allow simple majorities (50%) to require supermajorities (as high as 75%) to raise revenue. It will mean that a measure that calls for a two-thirds threshold itself needs a two-thirds majority. Simple, democratic and long overdue.
The Jarvis initiative is a threat to badly needed revenue across California. We are confident that we will defeat it. Let’s also take the opportunity to pass ACA13, and stop anti-democratic zealots from silencing our voices for good.
Is the Jarvis initiative happening because of Measure ULA?
Supporters of the Taxpayer Deception Act have framed their initiative as a “look-what-you-made-me-do” response to ULA. Others have wondered whether a compromise between the backers of the Jarvis initiative and proponents of Measure ULA could neutralize the initiative by persuading either the HJTA or its real estate funders to withdraw or defund the initiative, ending a threat to multiple cities.
Unfortunately, no Jarvis backer has ever made a credible offer to advance this proposal.
The United to House LA coalition put Measure ULA on the ballot and has defended its critical affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs. We recognized the threat of the Jarvis initiative early, but when we asked to talk to someone who could negotiate ending its support, we were told no funder wanted to negotiate.
In September, state legislators introduced SB423, which contained a “poison pill.” SB423’s substantial waivers from the Measure ULA would not go forward if the Jarvis initiative were to reach the ballot. This measure was withdrawn due to drafting errors.
In December, our coalition testified at City Hall that such a “poison pill” was the only valid reason for proposing amendments to Measure ULA. Mayor Bass facilitated subsequent discussions, but we never heard a proposal from Jarvis measure proponents that would actually neutralize its anti-democratic threat.
And in January, councilmember Nithya Raman introduced a motion to put a measure granting waivers to Measure ULA before the voters. The motion’s introduction referenced the threat of Jarvis—but the motion itself contained no leverage for stopping it.
Representatives of both HJTA (here, here, here and here) and its MAGA real estate funders (CA Business Roundtable, here) have, on the record, repeatedly rejected any deal. There has never been a meaningful opportunity to negotiate.
Real estate industry interests such as CBRT, supported by authoritarians and Trump supporters Peter Thiel and Geoffrey Palmer, have only ever wanted to overturn the will of the voters. Whether they do that in Los Angeles or statewide is simply a matter of opportunity. The United to House LA coalition has been serious about the Jarvis threat all along. Now, we’re serious about stopping it by beating it at the polls and passing ACA 13.
We have confidence that the voters who gave ULA a mammoth victory in order to address an even larger crisis are not about to slash local services up and down the state of California because big real estate suddenly has to pay taxes after years of everyone else shouldering their burden. Elected leaders should stand with us, put an end to antidemocratic ballot threats, and help pass ACA13.
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