Governor VETOES SB 268 Citing Lack Of Transparency, Would Have Let Cities Avoid 75 Word Ballot Summary, Instead Tell Voters To "See Voter Guide" For Taxpayer-Impacting Details Of Ballot Measures Seeking Multi-Level Taxes Or Property-Tax Raising Debt-Bonds

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Some LBREPORT.com readers responded to our editorial and emailed Governor urging veto after LB Council quietly let Mayor Garcia support the bill; all of LB's Sac'to lawmakers voted for it

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(Sept. 15, 2019, 10:55 a.m.) -- On Oct. 13, the final date for his action, Governor Gavin Newsom VETOED SB 268, a bill advanced by state Senator Scott Wiener (D, SF) and Assemblyman Mark Stone (D, Santa Cruz), that would have let local government bodies (including City Councils) tell voters to "See voter guide for tax rate information" instead of summarizing in a 75 word ballot title taxpayer impacting details of measures that seek to impose or increase taxes with more than one rate or approve debt-bonds that would increase property taxes.

In his veto message, Governor Newsom stated:

The bill makes modifications to ballot label requirements and notification requirements to voters for a local measure that imposes or increases a tax with more than one rate or authorizes the issuance of bonds.
I am concerned that this bill as crafted will reduce transparency for local and bond measures.

LBREPORT.com editorially opposed SB 268, calling it an "election tilting" measure that "would make it less likely for voters to learn the costly details of future City Hall-written tax increase ballot measures and easier to pass them."

LBREPORT.com editorially urged our readers to email Governor Newsom urging him to veto SB 268. A few readers did so (cc'ing us on their correspondence, thank you.) Although we don't know/may never know whether their grassroots emails letters had an effect, they unambiguously conveyed the following message to the Governor's office [with some readers adapting our suggested text slightly]:

As a Long Beach CA resident, I urge Governor Newsom to veto SB 268, which I consider hostile to transparency and to taxpayers. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia did not speak for me in supporting this bill. Under our City Charter, Long Beach's Mayor has no vote or policy setting authority and our City's policy-setting City Council never discussed or took a position on SB 268...
Please communicate to Governor Newsom my strong displeasure with SB 268 and urge him to veto this bill. Thank you.

SB 268 was opposed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the CA Taxpayers Association, but LB City Councilmembers (who set City policy) quietly let LB Mayor Robert Garcia (who doesn't have City Charter authority to set City policy) use his office to support the bill. All of LB's Sac'to state legislators -- Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell (D, LB), state Senators Tom Umberg (D, SE LB-west OC) and Lena Gonzalez (LB-southeast LA County) voted for the measure.

[Scroll down for further.]

SB 268 marks at least the second time LB's incumbent Councilmembers have let Mayor Garcia use his City Hall office to take a policy position on pending Sacramento legislation without public discussion in any Council committee or voted approval by LB's policy-setting City Council. City Clerk records show the Council's "state legislation committee," chaired by Councilman Al Austin, held no meetings of any kind as Sacramento legislative advanced in 2019.

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, the Council also let Mayor Garcia tell Sacramento lawmakers in 2017 that LB favored inclusion in a proposed 4 a.m. bar closure bill (also authored by Senator Wiener.) The bar closure bill, supported by downtown LB business interests, was vetoed by Governor Brown (2018), reintroduced by Senator Wiener and recently failed passage (even when pared down to 3 a.m.) in the Assembly. LBREPORT.com coverage here)

Sponsor

SB 268 is now technically returned to the state Senate without the Governor's signature...and the state Senate could try to override the Governor's veto which requires at least a 2/3 vote (by our reckoning 27 votes.) On Sept. 13, SB 268 passed the 40-member state Senate (29 Dems) with 25 "yes" votes and three Dems recorded as "no vote recorded." All state Senate Repubs plus one Dem (Galgiani/San Joaquin County) voted "no."

Sponsor

As of Sept. 9, SB 268's supporters (listed in a Sept. 12 state Senate legislative analysis) included:

SUPPORT: (Verified 9/9/19)

AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Council 57
Asian Americans for Community Involvement
Asian Law Alliance
Association of California Healthcare Districts
California Professional Firefighters
California Special Districts Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Council of SEIU
California Teachers Association
California-Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP
Coalition for Adequate School Housing
Community College Facility Coalition
Community College League of California
Compton Unified School District
County of Santa Cruz
La Raza Roundtable de California
Mayor Darrell Steinberg, City of Sacramento
Mayor Eric Garcetti, City of Los Angeles
Mayor Libby Schaaf, City of Oakland
Mayor London Breed, City & County of San Francisco
Mayor Robert Garcia, City of Long Beach
Mayor Rusty Bailey, City of Riverside
Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California
San Diego Housing Federation
Santa Ana Unified School District
School Energy Coalition
Silicon Valley at Home
Small School Districts Association
State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, AFL-CIO
Urban Counties of California
Valley Water

Sponsor

Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.