A bill that will require Fresno County to place the Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative on the November ballot advanced out of the Senate Elections Committee on Wednesday. 

While the bill needs to quickly work through the Legislature on Thursday and head to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, Fresno County may be able to ultimately hold up the process through litigation. 

Driving the news: Asm. Esmeralda Soria and Sen. Anna Caballero executed a gut-and-amend of Assembly Bill 1923 to require the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to place the would-be Measure C successor on the November ballot, bypassing the 30-day study the supervisors ordered that effectively postponed the initiative until 2028. 

The big picture: AB 1923 passed through the Senate Elections Committee on a 4-1 vote along party lines. 

The Assembly Elections Committee also heard the bill for informational purposes and did not take a vote. 

The committee hearings: Speaking during the Assembly hearing on Wednesday, Soria said Fresno County’s decision to order a study is a “bad faith maneuver” necessitating her bill to ensure Fresno County voters get a chance to decide on the initiative. 

Asm. Natasha Johnson (R–Lake Elsinore) had concerns that the bill strips away local control, saying it is wrong for the Legislature to intervene. 

“We need to stand by the decision of the County Board of Supervisors and respect their insight, their oversight and their authority,” Johnson said. “Overriding this decision directly undermines local control and the will, more importantly, of the voters of the Central Valley.”

Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez spoke as witnesses in support of AB 1923 in the Senate hearing. They argued for the urgency of the bill, saying Fresno County faces the risk of losing out on significant transportation funding. 

On the other side was former Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea and Paul Yoder, Fresno County’s lobbyist. 

Perea highlighted that the social justice groups backing the Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative raised money to kill the Measure C renewal effort in 2022.

He also directed the committee’s attention to Alameda County. On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors ordered a study on a measure to raise the minimum wage to $30 per hour – effectively keeping it off the November ballot – yet the Legislature is not considering overriding Alameda County’s local control. 

What we’re watching: Yoder warned that Fresno County could file a lawsuit to challenge AB 1923, which may delay it from appearing on the ballot in November. 

“The statement that this is urgent – I think court proceedings will possibly make a lot of what this bill seeks to achieve moot,” Yoder told the Assembly committee. 

To that point, Fresno County Supervisors Garry Bredefeld, Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes are holding a press conference on Thursday alongside Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diance Pearce and Reedley Mayor Matthew Tuttle to discuss potential litigation to challenge the bill. 

The urgency question also may face a challenge with cities in Fresno County moving forward with their own transportation tax measures to recoup lost funding when Measure C expires next year. 

Last week, the Fresno City Council voted to place a half-cent Measure C stopgap measure on the November ballot. The city is slated to submit the ballot measure to the Fresno County elections office. 

Coalinga has already submitted a measure to the county to extend its one-cent sales tax that is set to expire in 2029. The city wants to extend the tax to 2039. 

Fowler is holding a special City Council meeting Thursday afternoon to consider submitting a ballot measure to establish a half-cent sales tax called the City of Fowler Public Safety, Street and Infrastructure Maintenance, and Essential City Services Transactions and Use Tax.