Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Petitioners v. Alex Padilla, as Secretary of State

Summary

Justice Liu concurs in the judgment upholding the Legislature’s submission of Proposition 49, but would rest that result solely on the Legislature’s implied power under article V of the federal Constitution to obtain and communicate California’s sovereign view concerning a federal constitutional amendment. He rejects the majority’s reliance on a general investigative power because it could be read to authorize advisory ballot measures on ordinary policy matters and thereby alter California’s constitutional allocation of legislative power. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and Justice Corrigan, concurring, would recognize broader authority for advisory measures reasonably related to any proper legislative function, while Justice Chin, dissenting, would prohibit the measure.