Fresno County is on track to see a controversial road tax on the ballot later this year — even after the county sued California for forcing it in front of voters through legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The governor signed Assembly Bill 1923 last week, requiring Fresno County to place the Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative on the November ballot. If passed, the proposal would add a half-cent sales tax meant to fund roads and other forms of transportation.
Fresno County supervisors had previously ordered a 30-day review of the citizen-initiated measure that critics said was meant to delay the bill beyond November. Supporters of the tax then turned to the state Capitol to force its onto the ballot.
County supervisors were furious at the flip, with Fresno County Board Chairman Garry Bredefeld claiming overreach from the state.
“This is about whether Fresno County governs itself or whether political power and Sacramento connections can be used to overrule us whenever local voters and their representatives refuse to fall in line,” Bredefeld said.
The county backed its words with a recently filed lawsuit against the state, which describes AB 1923 as “a statute unlike any other in the modern history of California election law.”
Supervisor Nathan Magsig told ABC 30 that county officials met with attorneys and concluded that Newsom-signed measure is “flawed,” “ambiguous” and raises “significant constitutional issues.”
The lawsuit also named the county’s own election clerk, James Kus, who said he intends on following the state law despite county supervisors voting to postpone the election on the initiative until March 2028.
But Kus admitted to ABC 30 that the pending lawsuit could change things.
“Now a court could further refine what the assembly bill means,” he said.
Supporters of the initiative blasted the county’s lawsuit.
“Democracy cannot be overridden just because three people want that to happen,” Sandra Celedon, member of the Better Roads Safe Streets initiative, said of the supervisors. “They can say that the sky is purple, but guess what, it’s still not, so we are going to be on the ballot in November.”
A court decision is expected before Sept. 9, the deadline for when ballots must be printed and begin being shipped.
