Opinion: Prop 25, the

Proposition 25 is a common sense solution to California’s budget disaster, with legislators paying the price for late budgets, not taxpayers. With the state’s budget now over 60 days late, it is stunningly clear we must move to reform our dysfunctional system.

The narrow special interests that benefit from the status quo are going to great lengths to perpetuate clearly false information about Proposition 25. They want to keep holding the budget hostage to extract more “ransom” from taxpayers.

Simply put, the On Time Budget Act WILL NOT allow legislators to raise taxes with a simple majority vote.  This allegation was made by the opponents of Proposition 25, but the Third District Court of Appeals ruled very clearly that Proposition 25 would still require any tax increase to be imposed only by a bill passed by two-thirds vote of the Legislature. The Court unanimously ruled “we find nothing in the substantive provisions of Proposition 25 that would allow the Legislature to circumvent the existing constitutional requirement of a two-thirds vote to raise taxes.” The three judge panel was made up of three conservative Republicans appointed by Governors Deukmejian and Wilson. 

The Legislature could also not “add in” other non-appropriation provisions to prevent a referendum. This would violate both the referendum provisions and the single subject requirement. 

Further, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John Perez jointly authored a letter to opponents of Proposition 25 to dispel these outright fabrications. They concluded the letter by saying “Passage of Proposition 25 is a top priority for Senate and Assembly leadership.”

Proposition 25 is about ending the backroom horse-trading that often accompanies passage of the budget. It is time for that to stop. Any attempt to paint the On-Time Budget Act as an end-run around the two-thirds requirement for taxes or the right to referenda is grasping at straws.

Proposition 25 is a simple, common sense reform that: