With Gov. Gavin Newsom pouring through hundreds of bills sent to him by the California Legislature, we would like to credit the governor for vetoing one of the most deplorable bills of the legislative session.
Assembly Bill 699, introduced by Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, of course a Democrat from San Francisco, sought to make it easier for tax hikers to obscure what they’re doing.
Under current law, when a local tax or bond measure is on the ballot, the brief 75-word description voters see must include key information. Specifically, the amount of money to be raised, the tax rate and how long the tax will be in place. For bond measures, the description must likewise include the amount raised and the relevant property taxes that will be required to repay the bonds and for how long those taxes must be in place.
If it seems like common sense for ballot statements for tax and bond measures to include the cost and duration of the said taxes and bonds, that’s because it should be.
But Assemblymember Stefani was bothered that providing such information might make voters think twice about approving tax and bond measures.
“Reducing tax and bond measures to be summarized in 75-words has led to lower passage rates and jurisdictions deciding not to go to the ballot at all,” she argued. “AB 699 addresses a serious problem in current law that inhibits local tax mechanisms that cannot be accurately explained in the 75-word ballot label. This bill is smart, good government policy that enhances transparency while ensuring local jurisdictions can continue to work in partnership with their local communities in support of vital infrastructure.”
Her solution, then, was to allow the ballot statement to instead direct voters to the voter guide that few people actually read. Instead of voters then seeing the information about the amount, rate and duration of taxes, they could see instead, “See county voter guide for how property taxes repay bonds,” “See county voter guide for how the bonds are repaid,” or “See county voter guide for detailed tax rate information.”
Everyone knows what the purpose of AB 699 is and it’s to hide information from voters to give tax hikers an unfair advantage, even if it’s only a marginal boost. That’s why, unusually, even a few Democrats opposed it in the Senate (Ben Allen and Henry Stern of Los Angeles County and Tom Umberg of Orange County) and even in the Assembly (Jasmeet Bains in Kern County).
Gov. Newsom prudently vetoed the absurd proposal: “While I appreciate the author’s intent to provide local agencies with the flexibility to select an alternative tax rate disclosure option, I am concerned that this bill, as drafted, will reduce transparency for local tax and bond measures. For this reason, I cannot sign this bill.”
He put it very diplomatically. Assembly Bill 699 was a shameful attempt by Assemblymember Stefani and her Democratic colleagues to hide information from California voters so that Californians can be further shaken down by special interests. You know something is terribly wrong when Gov. Newsom is the one to save taxpayers as he did here and we thank him for doing so.