![\"Ashley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/10-06-25-swearengin-IMG_7625.jpg\" "\\"Ashley")
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Ashley Swearengin, CEO and president of the Central Valley Community Foundation, is lobbying the legislature to pass special legislation to get a Measure C replacement onto the Nov. 3 ballot.<\/p>\n
JUAN ESPARZA LOERA<\/p>\n
jesparza@fresnobee.com<\/p>\n
Supporters of a Fresno County transportation tax measure are using the big guns to pass legislation to guarantee the measure makes it to the November ballot.<\/p>\n
Ashley Swearengin, president and CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation and former Fresno mayor, said she would be in Sacramento on Tuesday to lobby AB 1923, legislation that would bypass election law to allow voters to decide on the \u201cBetter Roads, Safe Streets\u201d in November, instead of March 2028.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the tax also hired Sacramento lobbyist Olson Remcho<\/a> on July 28 to help fast track the legislation. Swearengin\u2019s group helped fund the signature effort to get the measure on the ballot. CVCF contributed $810,000 this year, through June 30, according to county campaign financial records.<\/p>\n After Fresno County supervisors found a way to effectively delay the \u201cBetter Roads, Safe Streets\u201d plan \u2014 supported by social justice groups and Republican mayors, but opposed by a majority of supervisors \u2014 state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, and Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, introduced an amended version of AB 1923 on Monday. The amended legislation would bypass the role of the Fresno County supervisors and place the Measure C successor straight on the November ballot.<\/p>\n Swearengin said she didn\u2019t know that changing state law to put the measure directly onto the ballot was an option until recently.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had known, why didn\u2019t we start sooner? So it\u2019s just been incredible to see our local leadership team up with the Assemblymember and the Senator,\u201d Swearengin said.<\/p>\n The legislators\u2019 plan is the latest in the saga to replace Measure C, the Fresno County transportation tax expiring June 30, 2027. It raises about $150 million annually and is earmarked for local transportation expenses, such as mass transit and road maintenance.<\/p>\n Efforts to renew the measure last year pitted tax-conscious conservatives and socially-minded advocates over how the money should be spent. Only one of two competing plans, Better Roads, Safe Streets, garnered enough signatures to be considered by county supervisors for the Nov. 3 ballot.<\/p>\n How much should be spent on roads was one of the biggest points of contention. Better Roads, Safe Streets advocates set the spending at 65%; others, such as Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, wanted a higher percentage. There were also battles over how much to spend on public transportation and the rules for deciding which roads to fix first.<\/p>\n The supervisors called for a 30-day financial impact study, allowed by law, which effectively kept the tax measure from meeting a key deadline to be on the ballot. The study would not be finished until after that Aug. 7 deadline.<\/p>\n Swearengin said that using the study to effectively block the measure for this election, which she called a \u201cprocedural delay tactic,\u201d was underhanded.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen that 30-day study is intentionally delayed by one business day past the state deadline, I\u2019m calling foul on that,\u201d she said. \u201cThis procedural delay tactic, which flies in the face of what the voters are expressing through their signatures, is really upsetting. And there\u2019s a wrong that needs to be righted here.\u201d<\/p>\n Opponents of the tax measure and the bill, including Bredefeld and Clovis City Councilmember Diane Pearce, said bypassing local elected officials with state legislation is corrupt and \u201crigging the election.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Supervisor Nathan Magsig also questioned the legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was shocking, but not completely surprising. As someone who believes in local control, this is another example of the state stepping in and intervening in a process where they don\u2019t like the potential outcome,\u201d Magsig said.<\/p>\n Mayors send a letter<\/p>\n The efforts for AB 1923 started with a letter from Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua<\/a> on July 31 to Caballero and Soria.<\/p>\n \u201cWe respectfully ask that you consider whether there are any legislative, administrative, or other lawful avenues available to preserve the ability of Fresno County voters to consider this measure. We ask for your assistance in protecting the integrity of the democratic process and ensuring that voters are afforded the opportunity to make this important decision under California law,\u201d the mayors wrote.<\/p>\n The letter came one day after the Fresno City Council voted to place its own general sales tax measure on the November ballot, so it could replace money lost from the expiration of Measure C. Dyer has not signed that bill, and said he would veto it by Friday if AB 1923 passes and is signed.<\/p>\n Mayors from nine other Fresno County cities sent a similar letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the fast track<\/p>\n Sen. Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento, carried a motion on the Senate floor Monday, fast tracking the bill to be heard by the Senate election committee on Wednesday. The motion passed 27-8. Caballero was the only member of the Central Valley delegation to support.<\/p>\n Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, voted no. Melissa Hurtado, D-Bakersfield, and Marie Alvarado-Gil, R-Jackson, did not vote.<\/p>\n The Senate election committee meets on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. The Assembly election committee will hear the bill 10 a.m. on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The bill would then need to pass on the Senate floor, and be sent to the state Assembly for hearings and a floor vote. If the bill survives, it would go to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.<\/p>\n