Thursday morning, the state Senate and Assembly approved the bill.<\/p>\n
Hours later, Newsom signed the legislation, for now placing it on the Nov. 3 ballot. The Better Roads, Safe Streets plan would impose a half-cent sales tax for transportation projects in Fresno County, a replacement for the Measure C tax that expires next year.<\/p>\n
Passes both Assembly and Senate<\/p>\n
Supporters of the tax measure turned in enough signatures, certified by the county election clerk on July 8. The supervisors voted on July 14 to order a financial impact study, due back in 30 days. That would push back a required vote to place the item on the ballot until past the Aug. 7 deadline, delaying the ballot measure until at least March 2028.<\/p>\n
Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, and state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, sponsored the legislation that bypasses county the supervisors\u2019 right to vote whether the item should be placed on the ballot. The bill is specific to Fresno County, and applies to any initiative measure certified by July 8, 2026.<\/p>\n
During her presentation to the full Assembly, Soria called the supervisors actions a manipulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re abusing this ministerial role to try to predetermine and tamper with the outcome of the election,\u201d Soria said.<\/p>\n
Critics including Bredefeld also called the lawmakers\u2019 actions tampering.<\/p>\n
The bill passed 54-16 in the Assembly; and 27-8 in the Senate. It received the two-thirds needed to pass as an urgency vote.<\/p>\n
The Fresno City Council passed its own tax measure, slated to also appear on the November ballot if Mayor Jerry Dyer signs by Friday.<\/p>\n
Lawsuit likely<\/p>\n
The agenda for the next supervisor meeting on Aug. 11 does not have an open agenda item about a potential lawsuit. Bredefeld\u2019s staff confirmed it will be discussed in closed session.<\/p>\n
Bredefeld called the state legislators\u2019 vote \u201cunconstitutional\u201d several times during a 50-minute session with the media. He also criticized the potential tax measure itself and its supporters, using terms like corrupt, wackos, feckless and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to back down. We\u2019ll never back down. We\u2019re going to defend our constituents and protect their interests, no matter what politicians, what radicals, what extremists, or what corruption takes place. And it\u2019s all pretty blatant, and we\u2019re witnessing in real time,\u201d Bredefeld said.<\/p>\n
County counsel Douglas Sloan said one issue at play is the bill\u2019s urgency. There may be a challenge to the Article IV, Sec. 8<\/a> of the Constitution \u2014 requiring a bill to be in print 72 hours, \u201cexcept that this notice period may be waived if the Governor has submitted to the Legislature a written statement that dispensing with this notice period for that bill is necessary to address a state of emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cemergency\u201d relates to fiscal matters. The Constitution also defines urgency statutes as \u201cthose necessary for immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.\u201d<\/p>\n A Fresno County judge ruled in 2023<\/a> that Fresno County \u2014 legally a political subdivision of the state \u2014 did not have standing, or the right, to sue. The lawsuit dealt with a state law that required a name change of the unincorporated community of Squaw Valley, because of the history of the word as a slur.<\/p>\n Bredefeld had no immediate answer Thursday about how much a lawsuit might cost.<\/p>\n