In California: Contempt for Voters in Senate Move on Amazon Tax

◼ The maneuver in the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday to undercut the referendum on the Amazon tax legislation is a glaring example of the contempt with which legislators hold the people's right of initiative and referendum. - Joel Fox at Fox & Hounds

...The process is an integral part of the checks and balances system giving the people control over their government. Clearly, some legislators don't want the voters making decisions at the ballot box on actions taken by the legislature.

Amazon.com challenged a new law that requires online retailers to collect sales tax. A referendum was filed to put the issue before the voters. According to the Los Angeles Times, signature gatherers "already are off the streets, having met their goal well before the Sept. 27 deadline for turning in completed petitions."

To foil this process, Senator Loni Hancock pulled what amounts to a parliamentary parlor trick by gutting a bill and substituting language similar to the wording in the original tax law calling the revised bill an "urgency" measure. The constitution declares that an urgency measure, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass, is immune to a referendum effort.