In 1978, a measure called Proposition 13 was passed by California voters in a landslide. The purpose of this proposition was (and still is), to limit the taxation on property. In '78 this meant property owners were voting themselves a 57% tax cut. Since the passing of this initiative, funding for public education and other public-funded services has decreased over the decades, since these services were traditionally funded through property taxes. The funding for the University of California system for this school year (2009-10) was cut back by $553.8 million.

Before the late 1970's, local property taxes went straight to the local school system, which were under local control. All this changed after the California State Supreme Court made landmark rulings in three cases collectivity known as Serrano v. Priest. With the way school money was handled declared unconstitutional, the legislature gained the "power of the purse" over education funds. Their solution was to limit the amount each district could get from its own local property taxes and spread the surplus around to the districts that did not have as strong a tax base.

Meanwhile property values in the 70's were soaring in California, and as the values went up so did the taxes. The red hot market led to fears that people, especially the elderly, would wind up priced out of their homes thanks to out-of-control tax bills. A growing sense of the tax code being unfair gripped the state, sowing the seeds for a taxpayer revolt.

Enter Proposition 13-- the primary backer of this measure was the late Howard Jarvis.  Jarvis, a lobbyist for the Los Angeles Apartment Owners Association, led the fight for the initiative to appear on the ballot by garnering tens of thousands of signatures.

Proposition 13 continues to be the scapegoat of the deep fiscal crisis California is facing, yet it has yet to be seriously challenged. During our recent interview State Senator Loni Hancock (D-CA), identifies Prop 13 root cause of the fiscal chaos and lack of funding for public services we are currently dealing with:

Well, we got to this point really in many ways through Proposition 13 in 1977...during the 50s and 60s, California built new campuses of CSU and UC. It passed this great master plan which was a vision of the opportunity for education for every young person -- older person too in California for that matter -- all of that stopped in 1977 with prop 13 -- the state money was capped, local governments and schools just about collapsed. Schools used to be funded primarily through local property tax. Proposition 13 basically took away the ability of local government to tax so the state bailed out education and now the state pays 80% of the cost of education and that meant it stopped investing in new campuses -- it stopped expanding.

But there are those who have argued otherwise; Joel Fox, who served as the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (1986-1998), argues in this LA Times opinion post that Proposition 13 isn't the problem, it's a State legislature that's addicted to spending.

Either way, it is inevitable that public colleges and universities across the State are going through a budget nightmare.

WEB EXCLUSIVE

SACRAMENTO-- California colleges and universities have been hit hard by state budget cuts cuts. Fewer classes are being offered, pay cuts for staff and faculty have been handed down, and classes sizes are blooming. In response to all this, protesters against these drastic cuts have held numerous demonstrations across the state at various college campuses.

We spoke with California State Senator Loni Hancock, a member of the State Senate's Education Committee about the budget cuts. Senator Hancock discusses the root of the budget crisis and what steps are being undertaken in Sacramento to address the budget shortfall.