On Nov. 9, CSBA’s Education Legal Alliance (ELA) filed an amicus letter urging the California Supreme Court to hear the case of Legislature of the State of California et al v. Weber (Hiltachk). In a unique procedural process, the petitioners in the case, the state Legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom and former lawmaker John Burton filed an original writ directly with the Supreme Court, seeking to have a ballot measure, the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act,” removed from the November 2024 ballot. The petitioners argue that the measure’s requirement that all new state taxes be approved by the electorate, expansion of the definition of “taxes,” and imposition of additional requirements for collection and use of state and local tax revenues imperil the provision of essential government functions and unlawfully revise, rather than amend, the California Constitution.
The ELA’s letter in support of the case supported the petitioners’ arguments and pointed out several specific impacts that the measure will have in the area of school funding, especially Proposition 98, school-based fees and voter initiatives for parcel taxes. The letter (which can be viewed on the CSBA blog (LINK) and ELA’s website (LINK)) also details several poorly defined terms in the measure that make the specifics of its implementation unclear and how the measure’s retroactivity provisions will impact already passed funding measures for school districts. The Supreme Court will consider the materials submitted on the matter and determine if it will hear the case.
