CLCV News: California League of Conservation Voters

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Prop. 64 endangers health and safety

VOTE NO; IT'S THE WRONG FIX FOR LAWSUITS THAT EXTORT MONEY FROM SMALL BUSINESSES

Mercury News Editorial (excerpt)

By gutting the so-called unfair business competition law, Prop. 64 would do away with a powerful tool long used by environmental, consumer and public health advocates to prevent unscrupulous businesses from putting the public at risk.

The law allows average citizens to file suit, even when they have not been directly harmed. Prop. 64 supporters want voters to believe that's wrong. It isn't. It's how environmental groups use the law to stop a polluter from illegally fouling the waters. It's how public health groups use the law to stop a supermarket from endangering the public by selling food whose expiration date has passed. It's how anti-tobacco advocates use the law to stop a store from illegally selling cigarettes to minors.

Prop. 64 would end those suits. Plaintiffs filing cases under the law would have to show not only that they've been harmed, but also that they've suffered financial losses. Only law enforcement officials, such as the attorney general and local district attorneys, would be able to use the law to prevent harm. But it's no secret that law enforcement resources are stretched thin. Saying that Prop. 64 "goes unbelievably far," a top deputy to Attorney General Bill Lockyer added that the initiative amounts to "throwing out the baby with the bathwater."

The costly battle over Prop. 64 could have been avoided. More balanced fixes to the unfair competition law have been debated over the years. Yet every time, they've been thwarted by Democrats beholden to the powerful trial lawyer lobby.

Large businesses have put a whopping $8.2 million behind the Prop. 64 sledgehammer. They'll use the money to convince voters that the initiative is simply about ending shakedown lawsuits.

Who could argue with that? It will be a lot harder to hear the pleas from the dozens of public interest groups, from AARP to American Lung Association and the Sierra Club, who are warning that Prop. 64 would weaken environmental, health and safety protections that all Californians have come to enjoy.

Californians would be best served by defeating Prop. 64 and giving lawmakers one more chance to fix the unfair competition law. If lawmakers punt, the onus will be on public interest groups to craft a more sensible fix to the law and put it before the voters in the next election.

PROP. 64 FACTS

Plaintiffs would no longer be allowed to sue a business for unfair business practices unless they have been directly harmed and have suffered financial losses.
It would put an end to frivolous unfair competition lawsuits aimed at shaking down small businesses.
It would also prevent environmental, public health and consumer groups from using the law to stop polluters or other unscrupulous businesses from harming the public.