SACRAMENTO -- The backers of last month's ballot initiative aimed at restricting class action lawsuits have told California Attorney General Jerry Brown they've changed their minds.

The Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) decided this week that the state's political climate was not right to put the question to voters next year despite filing the initiative just over a month ago.

"It does not appear that June [2008] is a good time to move forward on this," CJAC President John Sullivan told Sacramento based Capitol Weekly (CW) Monday. "For us, there was the possibility that what we thought would be a quiet election could be an explosive one."

The petition, submitted to Brown July 13, targeted "speculative lawsuits designed to leverage big dollar settlements based on dubious claims against companies doing business in California," the CJAC announced on filing.

The initiative would give the state clearer guidelines in tort-reform areas like class action status and attorney fees, the announcement stated. Sacramento has long been a battleground between legal and business interests over tort reform, CW noted.

But with liberal-based opponents threatening countering petitions and other high-profile battles looming, Sullivan and co-petitioner Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, didn't fancy their chances.

Other ballot issues slated for 2008 include a GOP plan to switch to a proportional election system plus an opposing plan to protect the current winner-take-all system, CW reported. Rival initiatives placed new restrictions and regulations on corporations.