Retire Proposition 13. No, not the ballot measure, which has saved California taxpayers countless billions over the past 30 years, retire the number 13 applied to any new ballot proposition.
There are 12 ballot propositions on the November ballot. That means the first proposition at the next election, probably the special election the governor plans to call in 2009, will be labeled Proposition 13.
A decade ago, Senate Minority Leader Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) and state Sen. Steve Peace (D-El Cajon) offered a bill to prohibit any future ballot measure from carrying the number 13.
Those guys didn’t have triskaidekaphobia. That’s the fear of the number 13. There are a number of explanations of why the number 13 is considered unlucky. One of the most enduring explanations is that there were 13 people present at the Last Supper.
Johnson and Peace thought that voters seeing a Proposition 13 on the ballot would attach some meaning to the measure that may not be there.
Proposition 13 is synonymous with the property tax cutting initiative of 1978. It has already been enshrined in a display in the California museum. Yet, it has not faded into memory. Proposition 13 is still the center of current debates on the restructuring of state and local finances.
And, the familiarity with the measure goes well beyond government insiders. Over thirty years after Prop 13 passed, it is still either blamed for some adversity in the state, or praised for keeping taxes in line.
The Johnson-Peace bill required a two-thirds vote as an urgency measure. The reason was that the coming election would bring a new Proposition13 and to prevent that from happening, the Johnson-Peace bill had to take effect immediately. The bill passed but did not secure the two-thirds vote necessary. In March 2000 a water bond carried the number 13 – and passed.
The next Proposition 13 already may have qualified for the ballot. And, ironically, it has to do with property taxes. The measure, put on the ballot by the legislators, would allow a new construction exclusion on property taxes for seismic retrofitting. Although unlikely, the order of the measures on the next ballot could change if the legislature puts other measures on the ballot and shuffles the order if legislators think another measure could benefit from the Proposition 13 label.
Why have a newly debated measure’s fate controlled by a number from history that still evokes strong feelings today?
Any measure that has been blamed for the Los Angeles riots, fat school children, fewer choral singers, and O. J. Simpson’s not guilty verdict in his criminal trial must have powerful medicine, or be in need of a better public relations agent.
On the other hand, Proposition 13’s still strong support amongst the voters is reflected in that oft-repeated cliché used by political pundits: Prop 13 is the third rail of California politics — touch it and die.
In any case, it would be unwise to allow the image of the property tax cutting Proposition 13 to reflect on a new proposal put before the people.
There’s another reason for retiring Proposition 13. Ballplayers numbers are retired after great careers, which have had an impact on the games they play and those who follow it. For better or worse, everyone can agree that Proposition 13 has had an impact on California’s fiscal structure, its citizens and its politics.
Proposition 13 has its own instant recognition like few other numbers do. Such recognition can live through time. Mention 1776 or 1040, and most people will know what you’re talking about.
The reason the legislature decided that ballot proposition numbers would recycle after a number of years was to avoid confusion between similarly numbered ballot measures. Well, there could still be confusion if a ballot proposition were designated number 13 today.
Whether you classify Proposition 13 as a hero or a villain, it has earned its a place in California history.