Walters: California anti-tax measure heats up a long-running battle

Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Legislature’s Democratic leaders and local government officials want the state Supreme Court to keep the anti-tax measure off the ballot.Since 1978, public employee unions and other beneficiaries of government spending have repeatedly tried to repeal Prop. 13’s barriers and make it easier to enact new taxes.

As the conflict raged, pro-tax interests became dominant in the Capitol and in local governments, but the anti-tax faction mostly prevailed in post-Prop. 13 ballot battles. In 2020, for example, voters rejected a Concurrently, California courts have eroded some of the taxation barriers the anti-tax forces erected.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Legislature’s Democratic leaders and local government officials want the state Supreme Court to declare that the measure is not a constitutional amendment, as its sponsors claim, but rather is so sweeping that it constitutes a constitutional revision that cannot be placed before voters via initiative petition., who must decide whether the measure can appear on the ballot by June 27, the deadline for preparing ballots and other material for the November election.

Thomas Hiltachk, a Sacramento attorney who specializes in ballot measures with a conservative bent, countered that the Constitution recognizes voters as the ultimate political authority and the proposed measure merely underscores that primacy. He told the court that it could review its constitutionality after the election if it passes, rather than short-circuit the process by knocking it off the ballot.

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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