California’s Democratic-led Legislature has voted to place on the ballot an amendment to the state Constitution that aims to thwart a business-led effort to make it harder to pass new taxes.

Lawmakers on Thursday passed Assembly Constitutional Amendment 13, which requires ballot initiatives that aim to raise voter thresholds under the California Constitution to meet that same higher bar to take effect.

The amendment, which will go before voters in the March primary election, is a direct response to an initiative called the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act. Led by the California Business Roundtable and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. that law would require voter approval for any tax increases passed in Sacramento.

New local special taxes would also require a two-thirds majority of residents.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. How would voting thresholds change?

Let’s start with the basics.

California law provides two options for amending the state constitution.

Through the legislature, lawmakers can pass an amendment with a two-thirds majority. Then, voters must approve that amendment by a majority vote of at least one greater than 50% in favor during statewide elections for the amendment to become law.

Citizens can also organize to amend the California Constitution through the statewide initiative process. For a proposed amendment to qualify for a vote, proponents must collect signatures from voters in support of the amendment, equal to at least 8% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. If these signatures are verified, the measure would apply equally to voters and require a majority vote in statewide elections.

In March, a group of business interests collected enough signatures to qualify an initiative to raise the threshold for voter approval

of greater than

tax increases.

If approved by voters on the November 2024 ballot, the measure would require any new taxes passed by the Legislature to be approved by a majority of voters. The bar would do that for new local special taxes

to rise

from a majority vote to two-thirds approval from voters.

Democratic lawmakers and their union allies responded this summer by introducing their own constitutional amendment in the Legislature with ACA 13.

The measure, which passed Thursday with the strong support of House Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), would require any measure to pass the signature-gathering initiative process, which aims to amend the California Constitution to change requirements for the tighten voter approval at the state or local level. measures would have to meet the same requirement of voter approval. For example, if a measure requires voter approval of an increase in the majority vote to a two-thirds vote, the measure itself also requires the support of two-thirds of voters to take effect.

ACA 13, also called the Protect and Retain the Majority Vote Act, would also allow local governments to hold advisory votes to understand voters’ views on an issue.

If ACA 13 is approved by voters in March, it would apply to constitutional amendments passed through the initiative process and submitted to voters after January 1.

2. Sounds crazy. Why do unions and lawmakers want to change the thresholds?

ACA 13 is the latest example of political gamesmanship in the battle between progressive labor unions and conservative business interests at the Capitol.

Defeating the business-backed ballot measure has become a high priority for Democrats and their allies.

Service Employees International Union of California, which co-sponsored ACA 13, and a coalition that includes the League of California Cities and the California Teachers Assn. claim that companies are trying to mislead voters

undermine the spirit

the will of communities to take their own measures. The coalition claims the changes would result in millions of dollars in cuts to local public services.

“To be very blunt, we are here today because a few special interests led by the California Business Roundtable have qualified a measure and want to change the rules in their favor,” said Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). during a Senate vote Thursday. “Make no mistake: they want to fundamentally change the foundations of our government, bring it to a standstill and hold back our progress.”

Increasing the threshold for approval under ACA 13 from a majority of voters to two-thirds before the tax measure is passed would make it much more difficult for business interests to prevail. Trade unions believe it is only fair that if you want to raise the threshold for other measures, your own measure must also meet the higher bar.

3. What do opponents say?

Business interests say they are funding the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act to increase accountability for how the government spends taxpayer money in California.

Their argument against ACA 13 is relatively similar to the case the unions made against the company

-supported

measuring unit.

Business roundtable claims ACA 13 is an example of special interests trying to soften the voice of voters

only

to apply

to the

change

only

on amendments that end up on the ballot through the signature gathering process, and not on amendments that are passed by the legislature.

“Very simply, if you look beyond all of this, this is about raising taxes and making it easier to raise taxes,” Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) said during a Senate debate where the proposal was adopted by a large majority. a vote of 28-9.

The General Assembly approved the measure Thursday by a vote of 54 to 19.