In California’s Capitol, the ‘defenders of democracy’ oppose transparency

Democrats in the Legislature are spending their first week back from summer recess frantically redrawing the state’s congressional maps in response to redistricting efforts in Texas. They claim they are doing it to “protect democracy.”

“We are trying to defend democracy as opposed to see it destroyed district by district,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a recent news conference.

As longtime capitol watchers, we have a few cynical thoughts about the lofty motives expressed. But first, it should be noted that the California Democratic Party opposed the state’s independent redistricting commission when it was on the ballot. Second, the Democratic-controlled state Legislature routinely passes bills that undermine our democracy when it benefits them.

For example, while the state Legislature is supposedly defending democracy against Texas, they are simultaneously pushing a bill that would reduce transparency for local tax and bond measures when they appear on the ballot.

An informed electorate is vital to democracy and often the ballot label is the only thing a voter reads before making their decision. That’s why the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association supported Assembly Bill 809 in 2015 and Assembly Bill 195 in 2017. They were simple measures that added one sentence to the ballot label, a required disclosure of the rate of a tax increase, its duration, and the amount of revenue to be raised.

We believe, when faced with a tax that could last decades, that it’s imperative for voters to have easy access to this critical information. But Assembly Bill 699 being pushed this year by Assemblywoman Catherine Stefani, D-San Francisco, seeks to negate that beneficial law.

Under Stefani’s AB 699, the agency seeking approval for a local tiered-tax and bond measure would only need to include these words on the ballot: “See County voter guide for detailed tax rate information.” Believe it or not, Stefani says she’s enhancing transparency by hiding these facts in the fine print of a separate publication.

“Requiring that financial measures be explained to a voter in a 75-word ballot label can be too restrictive and can lead to confusion and at times can be misleading to voters,” she wrote in her statement to a legislative committee.

This is where the ruse becomes so obvious. If the 75-word ballot label restriction is the issue, why not simply increase the word limit? A similar bill, Senate Bill 532 of 2023, was amended in the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments committee to do just that. It exempted the fiscal disclosure requirements for local tiered-tax and bond measures from the word limit. But SB 532 was later amended by the author to address a different issue because transparency isn’t really the goal here.

The real goal is to make it easier to raise taxes. Stefani admits as much further down in her committee statement: “Reducing tax and bond measures to be summarized in 75-words has led to lower passage rates and jurisdictions deciding not to go to the ballot at all,” she wrote.

There you have it. The real issue is if you tell voters that bonds are borrowed money that must be repaid via a decades-long tax increase, they are less likely to vote for them. It’s so obvious that even an analysis of the bill by the Senate Committee on Local Government questioned the bill’s intentions.

“Voters who do not have the time to review the information could end up not fully aware of how the measure may affect them. Does AB 699 tip the scales too far in the favor of local governments and initiative proponents seeking to pass new taxes and bonds?”

Gov. Newsom seems to think so. He vetoed a similar measure in 2019. Back then, he said he was “concerned that this bill as crafted will reduce transparency for local tax and bond measures.”

The governor was right then and it’s still true today. Save democracy. Keep the electorate informed. No on AB 699.

Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.