MSG Sues State Of California Over Fast-Tracking Of Clippers' Arena

The legal brawl over the Clippers' planned Inglewood arena "intensified" Friday as MSG Co. sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state's Joint Legislative Budget Committee over legislation that "fast-tracks the project," according to Nathan Fenno of the L.A. TIMES. The lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court alleges that Assembly Bill 987, passed in late '18 to "shield the billion-dollar development" from extended environmental litigation if it met several requirements, "violates the state constitution." Newsom last month certified the privately financed project under AB 987, and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee "concurred." That decision "sets a nine-month limit for lawsuits and appeals over the environmental impact to be resolved after the project moves forward." MSG Co.'s lawsuit seeks a writ of mandate compelling Newsom to "withdraw his certification of the project in addition to a declaration that AB 987 is unconstitutional as an 'impermissible special statute'" (L.A. TIMES, 1/11).