Victory for cities! The CA Supreme Court strikes tax ballot measure off the November ballot

The California Supreme Court ruled today that the tax ballot measure backed by the California Business Roundtable — what opponents, including Cal Cities, call the Taxpayer Deception Act — amounts to a revision of the Constitution and ordered the Secretary of State to refrain from placing it on the November ballot.

In its unanimous decision, the court concluded the measure would clearly “accomplish such far-reaching changes in the nature of our basic governmental plan as to amount to a revision” of the California Constitution. The ruling was in response to the Governor and the Legislature who petitioned the court, as well as Cal Cities and other local government associations who submitted an amicus brief in support of that position.

The court determined the measure would “fundamentally rework the fiscal underpinnings of our government at every level,” and “would shift so much authority in such a significant manner, that it would substantially alter our framework of government.”

“No amount of funding from wealthy corporations will change the fact that the California Supreme Court decided the Taxpayer Deception Act is unconstitutional,” said Carolyn Coleman, executive director and CEO of the League of California Cities. “It’s great news for cities and their residents that this dangerous initiative will not move forward this year, and local officials can now keep their focus on delivering local services.”

This ruling ends many months of work to defeat the ballot measure, in the court and through grassroots mobilization of local government officials and their coalition partners — including firefighters, teachers, labor, and community groups throughout the state. Cal Cities and its partners maintain that the ballot measure could decimate essential services, including fire and police, lead to expensive and frivolous litigation, and benefit wealthy corporations at the expense of California residents.

In the opinion, Supreme Court Justice Liu acknowledged that a pre-election review of a ballot measure is unusual. But he wrote that waiting until after voters weighed in to consider the constitutionality of the initiative “would be more challenging than in a typical case” because it includes a rollback provision that could invalidate existing taxes. It “would thus require the state and localities to start preparing to administer special elections if they wish to avoid nullification of taxes or charges,” Liu wrote.

Defeating this measure was a top priority for Cal Cities with close to 250 cities passing resolutions opposing it.   

“Today’s court ruling is a victory for public service, and the important work cities and local governments do every day to ensure that we have a strong quality of life here in California,” said Coleman.   

“Thank you to the Cal Cities leadership and city officials for recognizing early on that this measure presented an existential threat to our cities and their residents, and acting swiftly in partnership with Cal Cities Regional Public Affairs Managers and the broader coalition to mount an aggressive campaign to ensure that this measure would be stopped.”