An anti-tax, right wing group is trying to defund our schools & communities.
The California Business Roundtable, which spent over $40 million to defeat Prop. 13 reform in 2020, is in the process of qualifying a ballot measure for this November. Their initiative is a radical attack on the ability of state and local governments to manage their fiscal affairs and will make it nearly impossible for California to raise revenue to fund schools and public services. This will devastate our schools and communities.
This could be this generation’s Prop. 13.
This initiative will undermine education funding for decades to come.
It will do this by:
Adopting new and stricter rules for raising state & local taxes and fees
Creating easier ways for any person or business to challenge revenue measures and sue to stop the collection of taxes
Retroactively reversing voter-approved measures that passed within the last year, totaling at least $2 billion
This Initiative will Harm Students.
While raising taxes and fees will be near impossible, fees will still be allowed to be increased at UCs and CSUs. This will means that the UC and CSU systems will be able to raise fees on students without a vote. It puts the burden on students and shows that this initiative is not about keeping costs low for everyday people. This is really just a give away to wealthy corporate interests at the expense of the next generation of Californians.
A Closer Look
With this draconian initiative, the California Business Roundtable has exposed its far-right ideology. They are against ALL regulation, ALL taxes, and want to defund our public schools and community services as a way to give huge tax breaks to big oil and other wealthy corporations.
The most radical part of this initiative would force any tax increase, closure of any loophole, and elimination of any tax expenditure to be placed on the ballot and voted on by everyone. Every tax measure, even if it receives overwhelming support in the legislature, would require its own ballot measure.
In November 2020, there were twelve statewide ballot measures. Under this fatally flawed initiative, countless other measures for small and tax adjustments will be placed on every primary and general election ballot. Special interest groups would be able to fund campaigns in order to confuse voters on complex tax issues. Should the vote not result in their desired outcome the special interest group could sue, and the tax would become subject to endless litigation.
For example cap and trade fees, gas taxes, and tobacco taxes are continually adjusted based on their level of success and the need for funding. If this extreme ballot measure passes, we will see the consequences in every future election. We must do everything we can to make sure this does not pass.