Propositions are often written to elicit broad support while remaining vague enough not to inspire organized opposition. This delicate balancing act often leaves more questions posed than answered.
Take for instance Prop 25 and Prop 26. In California, you now need a supermajority to raise many fees, but passing a budget only requires a 50% majority.
Insert the sound of my scratching my head. To complicate matters, propositions are often written to take immediate effect. Unlike many laws passed by the legislature that have a delayed enactment date, there isn’t time for the legalese contained in the propositions to be deciphered. As a result, many opinions can be drawn on similar topics, simply by citing different clauses as support.
This highlights the precarious nature of the months that following the passage of a new law, initiative, or proposition. If you have questions when you look to proceed, the safest course of action is to read, ask questions, and consult experts.
Monday, I ran what I consider an expert’s analysis. Performed by Tramutola, a company with 22 years of local government advocacy and consultancy experience (with extensive work in tax issues including 29 successful bond measures in the last two year) offered PublicCEO and its readers their analysis.
Similarly, we are pleased to be able to offer our readers a glimpse at what the League of Cities has done to arm its members and stakeholders against the new law. The full report will be released in mid-January. Until then, these three resources – describing the committee, the initial analysis, and the draft report – should also be stored away in the tool chest for the next time a change or increase in fees are considered.
They convened an Ad Hoc committee to analyze Prop 26. On November 5, they published their initial considerations for the potential effects of Prop 26. Now we’re getting our first glimpse at their long analysis, including a question and answer section regarding concerns they expect to arise frequently.