Lawmakers scuttle school parcel tax ballot measure in favor of open records
Just weeks after California Democrats won an historic super majority in the state Legislature came an announcement that one of the first exercises of that power would be placing a constitutional amendment before voters lowering the threshold for schools to pass parcel taxes.
Sometime in the last two weeks, the proposed vehicle for the parcel tax initiative – State Constitutional Amendment 3 – was rewritten to instead serve as the much-discussed constitutional amendment clarifying the local government’s responsibilities tied to disclosure of public records.
The newly amended SCA 3 was considered last week in a Senate fiscal committee and passed out without dissent.
It is unclear what legislative leaders want to do now about lowering the parcel taxes – although officials at the California School Boards Association, which had sponsored the original version, said they continue to work on the issue.
Dennis Meyers, CSBA’s assistant executive director over governmental affairs, said in a statement that they are working with Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco – who authored the first measure – on finding a replacement. A Leno spokeswoman confirmed Thursday that the senator is committed to finding another vehicle for the proposal but could