By @Marcus Detwiler
August 17 amendments to Assembly Constitutional Amendment 13 by Assembly Member Chris Ward will protect local control in communities throughout California by preserving the majority vote and preventing a smaller percentage of statewide voters from overruling the actions of local voters in certain circumstances related to essential local services and infrastructure.
Because ACA 13 protects the democratic process in local communities, CSDA is supporting the measure and encouraging its members to submit letters of support. CSDA members may use a sample letter of support to better facilitate this process.
If ACA 13 is approved by two-thirds of the California Legislature, California voters would be asked at the March 5, 2024 Statewide Presidential Primary Election to decide whether an initiative constitutional amendment containing provisions that increase vote thresholds should be required to attain the same proportion of votes in favor of the amendment that the proposed increased vote thresholds would demand.
For example, if an initiative constitutional amendment includes a provision that would impose a supermajority (e.g., three-fifths, two-thirds, four-fifths, etc.) voter approval threshold, then ACA 13 would require that initiative to gain the approval of the same super-majority (three-fifths, two-thirds, four-fifths, etc.; whatever threshold the initiative proposes) of California voters in order to pass.
Under ACA 13, if an initiative constitutional amendment includes provisions that impose a supermajority vote threshold and fails to gain the corresponding supermajority of voters in support of the underlying amendment, the initiative constitutional amendment would not be considered approved, thereby failing in its entirety.
If passed into law by voters in March 2024, ACA 13 would apply to the Initiative #21-0042A1 (aka #1935) recently made eligible for the November 2024 Statewide Ballot through petition sponsored by the California Business Roundtable (CBRT). Formally entitled “LIMITS ABILITY OF VOTERS AND STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO RAISE REVENUES FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES,” CBRT has dubbed the initiative the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act.”
Ballot Initiative 21-0042A1 would result in the loss of billions of dollars annually in critical state and local funding, restricting the ability of local agencies and the State of California to fund services and infrastructure by:
- Adopting new and stricter rules for raising taxes, fees, assessments, and property-related fees.
- Amending the State Constitution, including portions of Propositions 13, 218, and 26 among other provisions, to the advantage of the initiative’s proponents and plaintiffs, creating new grounds to challenge these funding sources and disrupting fiscal certainty.
- Restricting the ability of local governments to issue fines and penalties to corporations and property owners that violate local environmental, water quality, public health, public safety, fair housing, nuisance and other laws and ordinances.
The CBRT-sponsored initiative eligible for the November 2024 Statewide Ballot includes provisions that would retroactively void all state and local taxes or fees adopted after January 1, 2022 if they did not align with the provisions of this initiative. Some may argue the initiative could even affect indexed fees that adjust over time for inflation or other factors. Effectively, it would allow voters throughout California to invalidate the prior actions of local voters, undermining local control and voter-approved decisions about investments needed in their communities.
Because Initiative #21-0042A 1 increases the vote threshold on certain measures from a simple majority to a two-thirds super-majority, under ACA 13, Initiative #21-0042A1 and any other such initiatives like it would fail passage unless they receive at least that same two-thirds super-majority voter approval they intend to impose on others.
CSDA Chief Executive Office Neil McCormick issued the following statement on the proposed Assembly Constitutional Amendment 13:
“ACA 13 protects the democratic process in local communities by ensuring as few as 51 percent of statewide voters cannot restrict the will of as much as 66 percent of voters in San Diego, Bakersfield, Modoc, Oakland, Los Angeles, and other large and small communities throughout California. Special districts take on our biggest statewide challenges at the local level, and ACA 13 will defend the rights of voters in all communities throughout the state to determine their own future and provide for their health, safety, and well-being through their local governments, including special districts, cities, and counties.”
ACA 13 will next be heard in the Assembly Committee on Elections at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 23 in State Capitol Room 444.
For additional information or questions about ACA 13, reach out to CSDA Legislative Representative Marcus Detwiler.
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