[SheLion]

The four legislative leaders today sent a joint letter to the California Hospital Assn. expressing concern that a proposed ballot measure to increase the tobacco tax could put the state in violation of an agreement that settled nationwide litigation against the industry. That would lead to the forfeit of California's share of the settlement money from that lawsuit and force the state's general fund to repay bonds floated during the Davis Administration that essentially mortgaged that 25-year revenue stream to help bridge the state's budget deficit.

I was hoping there had to be a cap on this Tobacco Settlement.  How much blood do the lawmakers expect to siphon from a smoker?!

[Amerigomag]

The point was that if the Legislative Counsel's concerns are deemed valid by the Attorney General, the measure will not be allowed on the ballot without a full explanation of it's financial impact.

The measure, if passed, would dictate additional sources of revenues, ie. general obligation bonds, to pay back the invalidated gains from the settlement. Under those circumstances the measure is doomed because it's passage would tax all Californians, not just the wealthy.

If the Attorney General agrees with the findings of the Legislative Counsel, I doubt the measure will even make it to the ballot.