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AP18:022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2018
CONTACT:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

Expands Requirement for Supermajority Approval to Enact New Revenue Measures. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

EXPANDS REQUIREMENT FOR SUPERMAJORITY APPROVAL TO ENACT NEW REVENUE MEASURES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. For new revenue measures, broadens definition of state taxes that would require approval by two-thirds supermajority vote of Legislature. For local governments, requires two-thirds approval of electorate to raise new taxes or governing body to raise new fees. Requires that state and local laws enacting new taxes specify how revenues can be spent. Heightens legal threshold for state and local governments to prove that fees passed without two-thirds approval are not taxes. Invalidates local taxes imposed in 2018, unless taxes meet criteria adopted by this measure. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Likely minor decrease in annual state revenues and potentially substantial decrease in annual local revenues, depending upon future actions of the Legislature, local governing bodies, voters, and the courts.

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1846 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 17-0050.

The proponent of the measure, Robert Lapsley, must collect the signatures of 585,407 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than July 25, 2018. The proponent can be reached c/o Kurt Oneto at (916) 446-6752.

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