Guide to the Judith Stanley Subject Files on Proposition 13 MS.R.082

Processed by Audrey Pearson; machine-readable finding aid created by Audrey Pearson.

Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries

(cc) 2007

The UCI Libraries

P.O. Box 19557

University of California, Irvine

Irvine 92623-9557

spcoll@uci.edu

URL: http://special.lib.uci.edu

Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries

Title: Judith Stanley subject files on Proposition 13

Creator: Stanley, Judith

Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.082

Physical Description: 1.4 Linear Feet (2 boxes and 1 oversized folder)

Date (inclusive): 1973-1980

Date (bulk): 1978

Abstract: This collection comprises newsletters, clippings, campaign ephemera, memoranda, reports, and other materials gathered by Judith Stanley, a University of California, Irvine, librarian, to document California's Proposition 13, a citizen's initiative to reduce property taxes that was approved as a State constitutional amendment on June 6, 1978. Included in the collection are materials from taxpayer associations, housing associations, and political coalitions, as well as files documenting the effect of the proposition on education, libraries, and Social Security.

Language of Material: English .

Access

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Preferred Citation

Judith Stanley subject files on Proposition 13. MS-R082. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the Government Information Department, 2001.

Processing History

Processed by Audrey Pearson, 2007.

Historical Background

Judith Stanley was a social sciences bibliographer for the University of California, Irvine libraries in the 1970s.

Commonly called the "Taxpayers' Revolt of 1978," Proposition 13 was a landmark citizen's initiative written and introduced in 1977 by politicians Howard Jarvis (1903-1986) and Paul Gann (1912-1989). This proposition fixed California property taxes at 1 percent of the full cash value of the property and set the maximum inflationary rate for property value at 2 percent per year. Property value is reassessed when property is purchased, newly constructed, or undergoing change in ownership. The proposition passed with 65 percent of the vote. Proponents of Proposition 13 cited the $6 billion state surplus as evidence of overtaxation and claimed that without the bill, property owners would eventually be unable to afford their property taxes. Opponents of the tax argued that the bill was unfair to renters because it only offered tax relief to owners, that it would take funds away from publicly funded government services, and that it would cause hundreds of thousands of job losses statewide. Proposition 13 continues to be a source of debate because new owners typically pay higher taxes than previous owners.

Biographical/Historical note

Chronology

1965	The San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner publish series of stories about the inconsistent assessment of property taxes due to assessors accepting bribes.
1967	Assembly Bill 80, the Petris-Knox Bill, passes requiring county assessors to reassess property at 25 percent of market value during the following three years and to do frequent reassessments to maintain the 25 percent ratio.
1973	Ronald Reagan's Proposition 1 to limit state spending fails to pass in California.
1973-1977	California enters a period of rapid housing inflation, resulting in ever increasing property taxes.
1978	California's estimated budget surplus is $6 billion.
1978	Voters approve Proposition 13 on June 6th and it becomes a California constitutional amendment.

Collection Scope and Content Summary

This collection comprises newsletters, clippings, campaign ephemera, memoranda, reports, and other materials gathered by Judith Stanley, a University of California, Irvine, librarian, to document California Proposition 13, a citizen's initiative to reduce property tax that was approved as a State constitutional amendment on June 6, 1978. Included in the collection are materials from taxpayer associations, housing associations, and political coalitions, as well as files documenting the effect of the proposition on education, libraries, and Social Security. In addition, this collection contains materials showing various reactions to the passage of Proposition 13, analyses of the effects of Proposition 13 in the two years following its passage, and campaign materials supporting the opposing proposition, Proposition 8.

Collection Arrangement

The original order of the collection has been maintained. The creator arranged the collection alphabetically according to subject.

For further information about Proposition 13, see Frank Levy, On Understanding Proposition 13 (Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, 1979).

Subjects and Indexing Terms

California -- Politics and government -- History -- Sources.

Referendum -- California -- History -- Sources

Property tax -- California -- Archives.

Elections -- California -- History -- Sources

Campaign literature -- California -- 20th century.

Jarvis, Howard

Gann, Paul

California. Proposition 13 (1978) -- Archives

box 1, folder 1

American Federation of Teachers of University of California clippings and memoranda 1978

box 1, folder 2

Anderson, Jack: clippings and correspondence 1978

Biographical/Historical note

Washington, D.C. newspaper columnist.

box 1, folder 3

Apartment Association of Orange County clippings 1978

box 1, folder 4

Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee report 1978

box 1, folder 5

Associated Taxpayers of Idaho newsletters 1978

box 1, folder 6

Association of California School Administrators announcements, bulletins and other materials 1978

box 1, folder 7

Bank of America report, newsletter and other materials 1978

box 1, folder 8

Behr, Peter H.: report 1978

Biographical/Historical note

Former California Senator for Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties.

box 1, folder 9

Berkeley (California) City Manager memorandum 1978

box 1, folder 10

Bibliographies 1977-1979

box 1, folder 11

Brown, Edmund G.: transcripts and clippings 1978

Biographical/Historical note

Former Governor of California.

box 1, folder 12

California Association of Realtors clippings 1978-1979

box 1, folder 13

California Congress of Parents and Teachers fliers 1978

box 1, folder 14

California Department of Education newsletter 1978

box 1, folder 15

California Federation of Teachers newsletter and petitions 1978-1980

box 1, folder 16

California Housing Action and Information Network (CHAIN) clippings and correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 17

California Housing Council newsletters 1978-1979

box 1, folder 18

California Housing Research Foundation newsletter 1978

box 1, folder 19

California Library Association memoranda 1978

box 1, folder 20

California Public Policy Center memoranda 1978

box 1, folder 21

California School Employees Association flier circa 1978

box 1, folder 22

California Senate, Office of Research report 1977

box 1, folder 23

California State Employees Association newsletters, fliers and other materials 1978

box 1, folder 24

California State Library newsletters 1978

box 1, folder 25

California State Parent Teacher Association (PTA) reports 1978

box 1, folder 26

California Tax Reform Association fliers 1978-1979

box 1, folder 27

California Taxpayers Association newsletters, reports and other materials 1977-1979

box 1, folder 28

California voters pamphlet 1978 June 6

box 1, folder 29

Campaign for Economic Democracy newsletter and flier 1978 undated

box 1, folder 30

Campaign pamphlets, mailings and other materials circa 1978

box 1, folder 31

Citizens Permanent Committee on the Recall of Public Officials correspondence and clippings 1978

box 1, folder 32

Citizens to Limit Government Spending correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 33

Claremont Men's College: Center for Study of Law Structures conference paper and correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 34

Common Cause reports and correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 35

Contra Costa Taxpayers Association report 1978

box 1, folder 36

Council of State Governments newsletters 1978

box 1, folder 37

Davis, Skaggs & Co., Inc.: Investment Research memorandum 1978

box 1, folder 38

Democratic Party newsletter 1978

box 1, folder 39

East Bay Regional Park District reports and clippings 1978

box 1, folder 40

The Equity Effects of Restraints on Taxing and Spending: report 1980

box 1, folder 41

Fiscal Limitation Movement bibliography and correspondence 1978-1979

box 1, folder 42

Forecasting Local Government Budgets: report 1979

box 1, folder 43

Friedman, Milton: pamphlets, articles and other materials 1973-1978

Biographical/Historical note

Awarded 1976 Nobel Prize for economic science.

box 1, folder 44

Hayward (California) City Manager memorandum 1978

box 1, folder 45

Henry George School of Social Science newsletters 1979

box 1, folder 46

Impact on arts: report 1978

box 1, folder 47

Impact on education: reports and clippings 1978-1979 undated

box 1, folder 48

Impact on libraries: articles, newsletters and other materials 1978-1979

box 1, folder 49

Impact on museums: article 1978

box 1, folder 50

Impact on renters: article 1978

box 1, folder 51

Impact on Social Security: clipping 1978

box 1, folder 52

Impact on utilities and services: ephemera 1978

box 1, folder 53

Impact outside of California: pamphlets, reports and other materials 1977-1980

box 1, folder 54

Incentive taxation: correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 55

Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley: surveys and correspondence 1978-1979

box 1, folder 56

ITS Review newsletter and advertisement 1978

box 1, folder 57

Jarvis, Howard: article 1978

box 1, folder 58

Jarvis, Howard: lists and form letters to citizens groups involved in Proposition 13 undated

box 1, folder 59

Laguna Beach, California: dialogue on schools announcements 1978

box 1, folder 60

League of California Cities newsletters 1978

box 1, folder 61

League of California Cities reports, memoranda and other materials 1978

box 1, folder 62

League of Women Voters of California report undated

box 1, folder 63

League of Women Voters of Orange County pamphlets, report and other materials 1978 undated

box 1, folder 64

League of Women Voters of Salinas (California) resolution and pamphlet circa 1978

box 1, folder 65

Liberty Lobby mailings 1978

box 1, folder 66

Librarians Guild: AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) Communicator newsletter 1978

box 1, folder 67

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce: testimonies, report and other materials 1977-1978

box 1, folder 68

Los Angeles Civic Center News newspaper 1978

box 1, folder 69

Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women newsletter, ephemera and other materials 1978

box 1, folder 70

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Inc. pamphlet 1978

box 1, folder 71

Mental Health Association in California memoranda and correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 72

Miscellaneous articles 1978-1980

box 1, folder 73

Miscellaneous correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 74

Miscellaneous tax newsletters 1978-1979

box 1, folder 75

National Association of Counties report and correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 76

National Association of Realtors reports and correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 77

National Tax Association -- Tax Institute of America: brochure, correspondence and other materials 1978 undated

box 1, folder 78

National Tax-Limitation Committee correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 79

National Taxpayers Union mailings undated

box 1, folder 80

No on Proposition 13 Committee press releases, newsletters and other materials 1978

box 1, folder 81

Orange County (California) Citizens Direction Finding Commission report 1978

box 1, folder 82

Orange County (California) Employees Association newsletter 1978

box 1, folder 83

Orange County (California) Renters Association clippings and correspondence 1978

box 1, folder 84

Peace and Freedom Party brochure, ephemera and other materials 1978 undated

box 1, folder 85-86

Prop. 13 Impact Reporter newsletters 1978-1979

box 2, folder 1

Public Citizen's Tax Reform Research Group newsletter and report 1978

box 2, folder 2

Public Employees Association of Ventura County (California) newsletters 1978

box 2, folder 3

Republican Associates mailing and correspondence 1978 undated

box 2, folder 4

Republican Central Committee of Orange County (California) correspondence 1978

box 2, folder 5

Research conference on Proposition 13: reports, memoranda and other materials 1978

box 2, folder 6

San Diego Taxpayers' Association newsletters 1978-1980

box 2, folder 7

San Joaquin County (California) Employees Association reports, volunteer forms and other materials 1978 undated

box 2, folder 8

San Mateo County (California) No on 13 Committee press release 1978

box 2, folder 9

Scholarly articles 1978

box 2, folder 10

Security First Marketing Corporation mailing 1978

box 2, folder 11

Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO/CLC flier and correspondence 1978

box 2, folder 12

Tax Foundation, Inc. newsletters 1978-1980

box 2, folder 13

Tax Revolt Digest newsletter 1978

box 2, folder 14

Tax revolt: international clippings 1979

box 2, folder 15

United Way of California report 1978

box 2, folder 16

United Organizations of Taxpayers petition, ephemera and other materials 1978

box 2, folder 17

University of California, Institute of Governmental Studies questionnaires, mailing lists and other materials 1978

box 2, folder 18

University of California, Irvine Medical Center clippings, minutes and other materials 1978

box 2, folder 19

University of California, Irvine questionnaires to Orange County libraries 1978

box 2, folder 20

University of California, Los Angeles Business Forecasting Project reports, correspondence and other materials 1978-1979

box 2, folder 21

Vote No on 13 Committee fliers, mailing lists and other materials 1978

box 2, folder 22

Vasconcellos, John: newsletter 1978

Biographical/Historical note

Former representative for the 23rd Assembly District of California.

box FB-030, folder 5

Oversize ballot, posters and clipping 1978