Press Release: Judge Rules That Legislature's Attempt To Take First 5 Funds InvalidNovember 29, 2011 |
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| LOS ANGELES - The Legislature's attempt to divert almost a billion dollars from local control to general state use was invalid, a court has ruled. Judge Debra Kazanjian of the Fresno County Superior Court ruled that AB 99, passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this year, was an illegal attempt by lawmakers to amend Proposition 10 without voter approval. Proposition 10, passed by California voters in 1998, established a tax on tobacco and cigarettes and created a specific trust and local control for those funds to be used on education, health, developmental and safety programs for children 0-5 by First 5 commissions in each county.
The lawsuit, filed in May by 10 County First 5 commissions, including First 5 LA, argued that AB 99 is illegal because it was enacted by a 2/3 vote of the Legislature rather than a ballot initiative; it uses Proposition 10 funds to supplant state General Funds, which is explicitly prohibited by law; and it removes local control over local revenues. Voters have consistently voted against legislative attempts to take Proposition 10 funds, most recently with the defeat of Proposition 1D in 2009. AB 99 would have required First 5 commissions statewide to turn over $1 billion in funds earmarked for programs for children 0-5 on June 30, 2012. "The paramount role of this court is to ascertain and uphold the intent of the voters - both with regard to the overall objectives of Proposition 10 and the method the voters chose to implement those objectives," stated a brief filed by the First 5 commissions in August. Among voters' intentions, the attorneys argued, is that tobacco tax revenues go directly to the Children and Families Trust Funds without Legislative involvement; that the emphasis be on local decision-making, flexibility and administration and that Proposition 10 can be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature only if the amendment furthers the act and is consistent with its purposes. "The court has rebuffed the illegal attempt by lawmakers -- signed into law by Gov. Brown earlier this year -- that would circumvent the will of California voters who passed Proposition 10 in order to fund safety programs for children 0-5 years of age," said First 5 LA Board Chairman and Los Angeles County Mayor Michael D. Antonovich. "Assembly Bill 99 would have removed local control over local revenues and confiscated over $420 million dollars from children served by First 5 LA." The full text of Judge Kazanjian's ruling is available at http://www.first5la.org/files/LawsuitDecisionAB99.pdf.
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