Claim: California Assembly Violated Proposition 54 — 95 Times Last Week

The California State Assembly may have voted Proposition 54 — which requires bills to be posted online in their “final form” at least 72 hours before a final vote — 95 times last week as it rushed to vote before adjourning Friday.

The ballot initiative’s sponsors, retired Republican State Assembly member Sam Blakeslee and moderate GOP donor Charles Munger, Jr., threatened to sue over the State Assembly’s votes, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Last year, Breitbart California Political Editor Jon Fleischman explained Prop 54, and why it deserved to pass:

Prop. 54 – The California Legislature Transparency Act. The primary component of this measure sounds simple, but actually represents substantial reform. It would require that any proposed legislation in the State Capitol be made available to the public in its final form for 72 hours before it can be voted upon in each chamber. Yes, this continues the theme of applying adult supervision. I cannot tell you the number of terrible, horrible pieces of legislation that are jammed through at the end of session. Tax increases, new regulations, new programs – most that would raise a hue and cry of concern, except by the time the public finds out – it’s too late. Read more about it here.

But the State Assembly has a defense prepared. It claims that the term “final form” refers only to the very last vote on a bill, after it has already passed the other house.

Blakeslee and Munger point out that the State Senate took the precaution of posting its bills 72 hours in advance of a vote even when it was the house in which those bills originated.

“”Why is the Assembly working so hard to deprive the public of this 72-hour notice when the Senate is taking the exact opposite approach and embracing the transparency the public demanded?” Blakeslee asked, according to Southern California Public Radio.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.