Jarvis, Howard

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Biography

Howard Jarvis was born in 1902, in Utah, one of five children. After getting his law degree at the University of Utah, he decided not to practice law, but instead bought newspapers. He purchased eleven weeklies in Utah.

He came to Los Angeles, California, in 1935 and purchased a small chemical company. Later, he developed a device to silence office machinery, followed by a process to demagnitize the hulls of U.S. warships so they wouldn't attract magnetic mines. Jarvis then went into business as a producer of appliances and aircraft sub-assemblies. At 59, with a staff of 13,000 employees, he retired.

He turned his attention to the fight to reduce taxes. With Paul Gann, he cosponsored Proposition 13. It passed in 1978 by a two to one margin, changing the way taxes are levied, collected and distributed in California. Its ultimate result was to reduce tax bills for property owners and, therefore, restrict the flow of revenue to state and local governments. Jarvis went on to pass Proposition 7 (income tax indexing) in 1987 and to author Proposition 62, which passed on the November 1986 ballot after his death.

He was president of the Apartment House Association of Los Angeles and chairman of the United Organization of Taxpayers and chairman of the American Tax Reduction Movement.

He died at age 83 on August 15, 1986.

From the guide to the Howard Jarvis Collection, 1970-1986, (California State Library)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn California State University Institutional Research Office Records, 1963-1981 California State University Historical Archives California State University, Dominguez Hills
referencedIn Paul Gann Archive, 1978-1986 California state library
referencedIn Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
creatorOf Howard Jarvis Collection, 1970-1986 California state library
referencedIn Alexander Pope papers, ca. 1932-2000, 1978-1990 Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery
referencedIn Judith Stanley subject files on Proposition 13, 1973-1980, bulk 1978 University of California, Irvine. Library. Department of Special Collections
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith California State University Institutional Research Office corporateBody
associatedWith Communist Party of the United States of America. corporateBody
associatedWith Gann, Paul, 1912-1989 person
associatedWith Pope, Alexander, 1929- person
associatedWith Stanley, Judith person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
California Tax Reduction Movement
Occupation
Activity

Person

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