BBK Partners Breakdown the California Supreme Court Tax Reform Ballot Initiative
Petitioners argued the Act revised the Constitution in three areas: levy of taxes, shifts power between branches of government and revenue-raising.
BBK Partners Lutfi Kharuf and Dean Atyia authored an article published in the Daily Journal which analyzed the California State Legislature’s and the Office of the Governor's successful challenge of the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” (“Act”). The Act was sponsored by a business-oriented interest group in January of 2022 and was submitted to the Attorney General to be voted on the November 2024 election ballot. If approved, the Act would have fundamentally restructured California’s most basic governmental powers creating roadblocks for various public sector initiatives, including fees, assessments, taxes and the recovery of costs for essential services by public entities.
On what this means to the State of California, Kharuf and Atyia highlight, “The most obvious and important impact of the decision is that it protects necessary revenue-raising functions of state and local governments from unconstitutional curtailment and burden had the Act taken effect.” They add, “The opinion makes clear that the administration of revenue needs are fundamental government powers that cannot be abrogated or shifted by voter initiative alone, and are instead subject to the same protections meant to ensure the ‘permanent and abiding nature’ of the Constitution.”
Subscribers of the Daily Journal can read the full article here.
