Soria, Caballero pitch bill to force Fresno County to place Measure C replacement on ballot

Two Central Valley Democrats are attempting to force Fresno County to place a social justice-backed transportation tax on the November ballot. 

Asm. Esmeralda Soria (D–Fresno) and Sen. Anna Caballero (D–Merced) are proposing legislation that would require the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to place the Better Roads, Safe Streets tax initiative on the ballot, blowing past the study on the measure that the board ordered. 

The big picture: Soria and Caballero amended Assembly Bill 1923 – which was originally a bill regarding hospital loans – to force the hand of the Fresno County supervisors. 

The bill states that any initiative that was certified as sufficient by the Fresno County Registrar of Voters by July 8 shall be placed on the November ballot. 

AB 1923 is considered to be an urgency statute that is necessary to preserve the expiring Measure C funds that support transportation projects throughout the county. 

How we got here: The Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative was on track to appear on the November ballot when its backers submitted over 32,000 signatures to the county elections office in April. 

But the measure failed its random sampling test of signatures in May, requiring Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kus to order a full manual count of the signatures. 

The county elections office certified the initiative in early July and presented the measure to the Board of Supervisors on July 14. 

Instead of immediately placing the measure on the ballot, the board ordered a study on the measure that would take 30 days and not come back before the board until after the Aug. 7 deadline to place measures on the November ballot. After that action, the Better Roads, Safe Street organizers were looking at seeing their initiative on the 2028 ballot. 

What we’re watching: It will need to pass through the Legislature and be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom by Friday in order for the initiative to appear on the ballot.  

By the numbers: The Fresno County Transportation Authority projected $114 million in Measure C revenue for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, the final year of the 20-year tax. 

The Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative would be a half-cent sales tax to succeed Measure C. It has a 30-year lifespan and is projected to raise $7.3 billion in total. 

The initiative would allocate 65% of funding to road repair, 25% to public transit, 4% to public transit innovation, 4% to regional projects, 1% to airports and 1% to administration costs. 

What they’re saying: Soria said in a statement that they have heard from mayors and constituents throughout Fresno County regarding the measure. 

“We cannot afford to do nothing,” Soria said. “Doing so will result in the loss of hundreds of good-paying jobs throughout the Valley, along with critically needed road improvements throughout Fresno County. Senator Caballero and I remain committed to the greater Fresno community and will do everything in our power to ensure voters in Fresno County have the opportunity to have their voices heard on November 3, 2026.” 

Caballero said people deserve the opportunity to vote, calling the study a procedural delay. 

“Local control is about more than the authority of elected officials – it also means respecting the will of the people. In this case, more than 32,000 Fresno County residents signed petitions to qualify a successor to Measure C for the ballot. Assemblywoman Soria and I are advancing this bill to ensure the community has the final say.” 

The other side: Board of Supervisors Chairman Garry Bredefeld told The Sun that the Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative is a public transportation tax scheme disguised as a roads tax. 

“It will steal over $7 BILLION from taxpayers with their goal of getting our citizens out of their cars and riding buses, scooters and bicycles to work,” Bredefeld said. “The radicals behind this measure had too many invalid signatures which delayed the process for them to get this tax scam on the ballot, so they have called their corrupt and radical politician friends in Sacramento, and they have crafted a new law to specifically change the rules in Fresno County.” 

Bredefeld said the board has a responsibility to evaluate initiatives that may have significant fiscal and policy consequences. 

“Local elections become meaningless when corrupt state politicians can simply rewrite the rules after their side loses. Not a surprise coming from the corrupt legislature in Sacramento,” Bredefeld said. “We will fight this measure and defeat it in spite of their corruption because it will not fix our residents’ streets but destroy them with 120 miles of bike lanes and billions more of taxpayer money misused just like Sacramento’s High Speed Rail, the train to nowhere.” 

Former Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea and Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce joined KMJ’s Broeske and Musson show Monday morning to discuss AB 1923. Perea and Pearce backed a competing successor to Measure C that did not submit signatures to the county. 

“It’s stunning to look at why Sacramento would want to interfere in local elections in such a way,” Perea said. “Maybe they know that the analysis that’s being conducted would pull the sheets back on this measure and show what a bad deal it is for the public, especially the Fresno County voters.” 

Perea said he thinks the Central Valley Community Foundation will face intense scrutiny if the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure appears on the foundation since the organization spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to support signature gathering. 

“I think the light is going to shine very brightly on the Central Valley Community Foundation and what their involvement with this is,” Perea said. “When you think about it, in the past, this was an organization that was benevolent in many ways and did things in this community to make the world a bit better. But it’s really been hijacked by a group of folks now who have turned it into a multi, multi-million dollar business of getting money from grants from a lot of folks around the state that do these types of initiatives.” 

Pearce added, “It’s basically Sacramento saying who needs local elected officials, who needs a county board of supervisors responsible and accountable to the residents and citizens of that county when Sacramento can just come in and do your dirty work for you.”