California lawmakers on Thursday will have an opportunity to vote on Central Valley Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria\u2019s last-ditch effort<\/a> to place the Better Roads, Safe Streets<\/a> proposal on Fresno County voters\u2019 ballots this November and circumvent delays from the Board of Supervisors<\/a>.<\/p>\n That comes after a 4-1 decision by the California Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee<\/a> on Wednesday to move Soria\u2019s bill, AB 1923, to the senate floor. A Thursday vote would leave just one day to spare before the Friday deadline for local measures to qualify for the November ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, this passes the smell test in terms of popular support from across the county,\u201d said state Sen. Benjamin Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat, at the hearing. \u201cAt the end of the day, all this is doing is giving the voters the opportunity to decide whether this merits their support or not.\u201d<\/p>\n The committee vote fell along party lines, with the lone Republican on the five-member body, Steven Choi of Irvine, voting \u201cno\u201d on the bill that he said \u201ctramples local control.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, I cannot support this rushed measure that was only put into print two days ago,\u201d said Choi, vice chair of the committee.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s hearings took place just two days after Soria, with support from state Sen. Anna Caballero, rewrote a healthcare bill<\/a> that had been in the works for months into an \u201cemergency statute\u201d requiring Fresno County to place qualified signature-led initiatives on the November 2026 ballot.<\/p>\n The move from the pair of Fresno-area state lawmakers came after a controversial vote at the Fresno County Board of Supervisors last month that delayed placing the Better Roads initiative on the ballot until after the completion of a 30-day study, likely precluding the measure that garnered more than 30,000 signatures from the November ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never done a bill this expeditiously. I take my time and I work really hard,\u201d Caballero acknowledged during the senate hearing, \u201cbut this is really important to the county of Fresno, and it\u2019s very important to all of these people who have spent the last number of years working, negotiating, compromising and putting pen to paper to try to extend a tax measure that\u2019s going to benefit their community.\u201d<\/p>\n The senate committee meeting was the second of two hearings at the state capitol on Wednesday related to Soria\u2019s AB 1923.\u00a0<\/p>\n Supporters of Better Roads traveled hundreds of miles to pack both the morning and afternoon committee meetings in Sacramento. At least 60 of those proponents formally registered their support at each hearing.<\/p>\n Several urged the state lawmakers to support the bill, citing concerns about the dire cuts to transit services and funding for road repairs<\/a>, not to mention employee ranks<\/a>, that cities across Fresno County are projecting if voters don\u2019t pass a successor to the county\u2019s longtime transportation tax, Measure C, before it sunsets next summer.<\/p>\n A handful of individuals who showed up in person to register opposition to Soria\u2019s bill hinted that the Fresno County Board of Supervisors will likely sue if AB 1923 passes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that you\u2019d be asked to send this to the governor by tomorrow would be a mistake. Trust me,\u201d said Paul Yoder, an advocate and lobbyist<\/a> who spoke on behalf of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors at both hearings. \u201cThere probably will be litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how likely a legal challenge from the Fresno County Board of Supervisors is to prevail.<\/p>\n