Five measures axed in backdoor negotiations; here’s California’s official ballot
The June 25 withdrawal deadline for ballot measures has passed, and with it some contentious deals were brokered among the Legislature, anti-tax advocates, business groups and labor unions. California voters now have 14 measures to decide on come November.
In this year’s ballot measure graveyard lies the competing measures introduced by Uber and Consumer Attorneys of California, both of which were dropped after last-minute negotiations. SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and the California Hospital Administration both sponsored retaliatory measures against each other and reached an agreement hours before the withdrawal deadline.
Some measures, though, failed to broker a compromise between groups before June 25, most notably, the 5% one-time tax on all California billionaires, and campaigns for eligible measures are expected to ramp up in preparation for the general election.
Here are the final 14:
Proposition 1: The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act would free up $11.25 billion for housing for low-income families, the homeless, at-risk youth and veterans. According to an estimation from the governor’s office, about 40,000 low- to moderate-income Californians will receive down payment assistance through the measure, which was pulled from the ballot last minute in 2024. Some California lawmakers have come down on the bill for being too brazen and spending money California doesn’t have.
Proposition 2: The Save For California’s Future Act would increase the cap on California’s Budget Stabilization Account, colloquially known as the “rainy day fund”, from 10% to 20%. The money for the fund comes from a combination of capital gains and income tax. Democrats say the increased capacity would secure necessary cash flow for public schools, while Republicans say California is already too deep in debt for the state to be hoarding emergency money and too subject to the waxing and waning of the state’s stock market-dependent economy.
Proposition 3: The California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act would indefinitely extend an existing tax on couples who make above $680,000 and individuals who make above $340,000. The tax is already in place and set to expire in 2030 if not renewed; it currently provides funding to public schools and community colleges. Backers of the tax, including the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers, say allowing the tax to expire would eliminate $10 billion in annual funding.
Proposition 4: California Fair Elections Act lifts the ban on public campaign financing. The bill imposes restrictions on how public donations can be used and is designed to offer an alternative to investment from wealthy special interest groups
Proposition 5: This Legislature-introduced measure targets recall elections. A typical recall election decides whether a politician should be recalled from office and who their replacement will be, but this measure eliminates the second half, instead mandating that the position remain vacant until a substitute is elected. Another stipulation of the new recall process is that if the governor is recalled, they’d be replaced by the lieutenant governor.
Proposition 37: The California Middle-Class Homeownership and Family Home Construction Act would create a mortgage assistance program for California residents earning up to 200% of their area’s median income to purchase newly constructed single-family homes with a down payment as low as 3%.
Proposition 38: The California Immunology Research and Cures Initiative would authorize $8.4 billion in state bonds for immunology and immunotherapy research. The initiative could yield returns in the form of new prescription drugs or medical breakthroughs, which would help the state recoup its investment.
Proposition 39: The California Voter ID Initiative would create more stringent voter ID rules for both in-person and mail-in voting. Voters who cast ballots by mail would need to provide the last four digits of a unique number on their ID, like a driver’s license number. Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, one of the measure’s sponsors, claimed in a phone interview that California does not send ballots to people who have since left the state of California, which could influence elections. Many voting rights groups have expressed that the initiative could discourage eligible voters who do not have identification, disqualifying already unrepresented groups from voting.
Proposition 40: The Billionaire Tax Act would create a one-time 5% tax on California residents as of Jan. 1 2026 whose assets are valued at over $1 billion, with 90% of the collected revenue going towards healthcare. Supporters say that the tax provides funding that hospitals and clinics need desperately if they want to avoid making major cuts caused by the Republican-backed H.R. 1 bill that passed in Congress last year. The measure’s main backer is the SEIU United Health Workers West, whose president, Dave Regan, has a long track record of proposing major ballot measures. Critics of the measure include Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Teachers Association, who fear the tax would punch a hole in California’s state budget if billionaires decide to leave the state.
Proposition 41: The Improving Transparency, Effectiveness, and Efficiency in California Government Act is heavily funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and would require extensive audits for any state program funded by a proposition. It also contains provisions that would undermine the proposed billionaire tax.
Proposition 42: The Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act is another initiative funded by Brin as well as a handful of other wealthy business moguls. It would bar new taxes on retirement accounts, personal property and other forms of personal savings. It also contains a poison pill that would undermine the proposed billionaire tax by barring taxes that apply retroactively. Both provisions would effectively void the proposed billionaire tax.
Proposition 43: The Local Taxes Limitation Amendment emerged from a compromise between California lawmakers, business groups and longtime anti-tax advocate Jon Coupal. Coupal’s original measure would have overturned real estate transfer taxes, which generate $2 to $3 billion in revenue for local governments every year. Democratic lawmakers pulled their initiative that would have made it harder to pass restrictions on local tax increases and instead proposed an amendment that does the opposite—making future tax hikes harder to implement. Now, Californians will vote on the resulting Legislature-introduced initiative, which mandates a two-thirds vote to increase local special taxes.
Proposition 44: The Clinic Funding Accountability and Transparency Act would require 90% of total health clinic revenue to be spent on patient services. Like the billionaire tax, it was proposed by SEIU-UHW.
Proposition 45: The Building an Affordable California Act aims to strip down environmental regulations put forth by the California Environmental Quality Act, an environmental protections law that’s been in effect since 1970. Backers like the California Chamber of Commerce say those changes would expedite public projects, though environmental groups warn of the environmental consequences of limiting CEQA’s oversight of new infrastructure. The initiative’s funders include the Chamber, PG&E and Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Five measures axed in backdoor negotiations; here’s California’s official ballot."
