[EL] Help Get Calif. Gas Tax Votes Prop. Off the Ballot?

[D. A. Holtzman]

Hi Election Law List People,

I’ve refined the argument for blocking the Gas Tax Votes proposition 
(see below), and really hope some of you can offer help.Please let me 
know what you think.Or maybe you can refer me to someone who might help.

The measure, Proposition 6, threatens California government, not just 
one gas tax.

Prop. 6 seeks to change the California Constitution to require automatic 
votes on *all future* state gas or car taxes.In addition to 
significantly hobbling one branch of state government, that change would 
set a precedent that could end up crippling all three branches.So, like 
the “Three Californias” Prop. 9 did before the California Supreme Court 
took it off the ballot, Prop. 6 truly proposes a constitutional 
revision, not an ordinary amendment.For that reason, and because a 
constitutional revision may not be placed on the ballot by initiative, a 
lawsuit can get Prop. 6 off the ballot.

The precedent set by Prop. 6 would be awful and could be 
catastrophic.Imagine if the legislature, agencies, and courts could not 
act on any of a list of subjects without waiting for a statewide 
election and voter approval! Although it’s true that a state may require 
local voter involvement before some types of local government actions 
take effect, in the United States a *state* government must be sovereign 
and able to act on any subject at any time.

The California Constitution requires representative democracy as well as 
functioning agencies and courts.Blocking our government from working 
without waiting for a statewide election and voter approval might not 
split the state into pieces, but it would fundamentally revise the 
Constitution’s functional structure. In a way, Prop. 6 is worse than 
Prop. 9 was.Having one broken state government would be worse than 
having three new ones that work.Prop. 6 could usher in a dysfunctional 
future!

I really hope some of you will help get a suit to court as soon as 
possible.California Code offers a window until August 13 to obtain a 
writ of mandate ordering the proposition off the ballot. So please 
contact me ASAP.

- David A. Holtzman, M.P.H., J.D.
(310) 826 - 7398
dahmph at umich.edu


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