Today, California Legislative Republicans submitted an amicus letter to the Supreme Court of California expressing their opposition to the State of California et al. v. Weber, a lawsuit that seeks to remove the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (TPA) from the November 2024 ballot. Click here to download the amicus letter.
In the letter, Legislative Republicans stated:
“First and foremost, we must correct the misinformation provided to this Court. While certain legislators took it upon themselves to file this lawsuit, its purpose and content were never approved via legislative action and we do not support this blatantly undemocratic attempt to disenfranchise voters by removing a voter-qualified initiative from the ballot.”
“The Democrat supermajority portrays themselves as the protectors of democracy, yet this lawsuit is a deliberate attempt to silence voters before they even have a chance to make their voices heard at the ballot box,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego). “The two legislators that signed the lawsuit do not speak for the entire legislature. Not only was there no official action to involve the legislature in such an undemocratic, blatant disrespect of the voters, but we were not even informed beforehand. We filed this letter to correct the record.
“Democrat lawmakers could have easily voted on this lawsuit before the 2023 session adjourned on September 14, but the supermajority never even brought forward a vote,” Leader Jones pointed out. “The political reality is Democrat leaders know all too well that most of their own members don’t want to be on the record removing an anti-tax initiative from the ballot, which is exactly what their lawsuit proposes.”
“Democrats only care about democracy when it’s convenient. There’s no other explanation for this blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters who are fed up with California’s outrageous cost of living,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City). “Out-of-touch politicians wasting money in an effort to silence their own constituents is exactly why more than a million Californians signed on to the Taxpayer Protection Act to reign in taxes and spending.”
BACKGROUND:
The Secretary of State’s office announced in February that the TPA had successfully qualified for the November 2024 ballot. With more than 1.4 million signatures gathered to qualify for the ballot initiative, the TPA would require that all new taxes passed by the legislature must be approved by voters and would restore the two-thirds voter approval threshold for local special tax increases.