Click here for the just-released study, The California High Speed Rail Proposal: A Due Diligence Report

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation (HJTF) is the research, education and legal arm of the Jarvis organization. The Foundation funds studies on tax and economic issues and works to provide constructive alternatives to the tax-and-spend proposals from our state legislators. HJTF is the lead organization defending taxpayers in the courts.  Read more >>

Claimed Homeowner Protections Easily Circumvented

For the past several months, local government interests, including the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties, have spent millions of dollars touting Prop. 99 as ironclad protection for Californians who fear having their homes seized by local governments to be turned over to private developers for strip-malls and other for-profit projects.  Read more >>

A young man graduated law school, passed the bar, rented an office, ran an ad, and opened for business. For three days no one showed up. Finally the next morning he saw a man approaching his door. Wanting to impress his first potential client, the young lawyer picked up the phone. He motioned the man in while shouting, "Absolutely not! You tell those clowns in New York that I won't settle for less than a million. We're ready for trial, and I'll take this case to the Supreme Court if necessary. Fine. I expect an answer within 24 hours." The lawyer replaced the handset and turned to the man.  Read more >>

Koko the gorilla, a resident of the Los Angeles Zoo, had become quite adept at picking the pockets of the zoo keeper. One day Koko used the zoo keeper's key to let himself out of his cage, and ambled over to the snack shop. Climbing onto a bar stool, he grunted "Water." When the man returned with a bottle of Aquafina, Koko handed him a $20 bill from the zoo keeper's wallet. Guessing the gorilla wasn't too smart, the man gave Koko one dollar in change. "We don't get a lot of business from the animals here," the man remarked. Koko snorted, "At $19 for bottled water, I'm not surprised."  Read more >>

Although it received very little press attention, taxpayers recently won a huge victory in the California Supreme Court. The ruling in Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency v. Beringson has created shockwaves throughout the state among those concerned with local taxation.  Read more >>