# Lots of measures have qualified for California’s November ballot. Here’s what they would do > Source: > Published: 2026-06-26 16:02:21+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...While control of Congress and the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom will draw much of the attention, California voters also will decide the fate of 14 ballot measures in November, the most in any statewide election since 2016. Thursday evening was the deadline for measures to be certified. Early voting starts a little more than three months from now and ends on Election Day Nov. 3. “This year the number of ballot measures is on the high side,” said Jack Pitney, a professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College. “There’s a lot of rising concern about affordability. Democratic turnout is going to be reasonably good because it’s a midterm, with a Republican in the White House with whom they would like to register their dissatisfaction.” Tens of millions of dollars are likely to be spent for campaigns and ads on measures ranging from a nationally watched wealth tax on billionaires to more funding for medical research to voter ID requirements. “We have a lot of propositions,” said Shaun Bowler, a professor of political science at UC Riverside. “Information about many of them will be overshadowed by the billionaire tax. Proponents of a lot of the other measures will have more of an uphill task than usual in getting them passed.” The measures that qualified for this November’s ballot are: **Billionaire’s tax: **The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West is backing a measure that would levy a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents with more than $1 billion in assets. The tax is expected to fund healthcare, food assistance and education programs that lost revenue in President Trump’s and congressional Republicans’ recent federal budget cuts, with 90% going toward healthcare. Forbes estimates that more than 200 billionaires live in California. The tax is opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Teachers Association and Planned Parenthood over concerns that it will drive billionaires out of the state and hurt the state’s tax base in the long term. **Environmental studies:** The California Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring [an initiative](https://buildaffordableca.com) to overhaul one of the state’s most powerful and controversial environmental laws, the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, which requires environmental studies of major projects. If approved, the measure would set a 365-day limit on environmental reviews for a range of projects, including new reservoirs, desalination plants, forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk, apartments, housing subdivisions, roads, bridges, public transit, hospitals, solar farms, wind farms and battery storage facilities. It also would require courts to rule on CEQA lawsuits within 270 days. Supporters say the measure is needed to cut red tape. Environmental groups say it goes too far and have vowed to fight it. **Medical research:** This $8.4 billion [bond measure](https://caimmunologybond.com/) provides money for research aimed at preventing and curing diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Half of the funding would go to the University of California. The rest would fund competitive grants to other universities and non-profit research organizations in the state. The main backer, philanthropist Gary Michelson of Los Angeles, is a spinal surgeon who became a billionaire in 2005 when he sold dozens of patents for medical devices he invented to Medtronic. He has donated $120 million to launch the new UCLA California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, which would be eligible for some of the bond money. **Affordable housing:** This $11.25 billion [bond](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB417), placed on the ballot by Newsom and Democratic leaders in Sacramento, would fund rental and home ownership programs, including the state’s Multifamily Housing Program, which provides low-interest loans to developers who build low-income housing. It would also fund the CalHome Program, which provides local grants to help low-income residents buy and repair homes, and would bankroll grants and loans to build housing for agricultural workers. In addition, $1.25 billion of the measure, or 11%, would fund veterans’ housing programs. Nevertheless, legislators called it the “Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026.” **Voter ID:** A Republican-backed initiative led by San Diego Assemblymember Carl DeMaio would require voters to present a government-issued ID at the polls or use the last four digits of their ID when voting by mail. [The measure](https://www.reformcalifornia.org/cavoterid/about) would also require the state to provide voter ID cards on request and mandate election officials report annually the percentage of voters’ citizenship they have verified. California currently requires voters to provide their ID and Social Security number when they first register to vote. Twenty-four states require a photo ID to vote. It is opposed by the ACLU, League of Women Voters and other groups who say voter fraud is extremely rare and the measure would create barriers, making it harder to vote. **Rainy Day Fund:** Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in Sacramento [reached a deal](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260ACA20) to place a measure on the ballot to increase the constitutional cap on California’s main rainy day fund, from 10% to 20%. Because high-earners pay a significant share of state income taxes – with the top 1% of taxpayers paying 40% to 50% of state income taxes each year – the state budget is vulnerable to boom-and-bust cycles based on stock market swings, supporters say. Allowing more money to be set aside in reserve during flush years could offset cuts in down years, they argue. **Public campaign financing: **An [initiative](https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ballot-measures/pdf/sb-42.pdf) placed on the ballot by the state legislature would amend the Political Reform Act and end the ban on the public financing of political campaigns. Candidates would have to adhere to campaign finance limits and certain criteria to qualify for the funds and wouldn’t be allowed to use the money for legal fees, fines or for repaying personal loans. Supporters like California Common Cause and the League of Women Voters argue that it would create a pipeline of funding for candidates who don’t want to rely on special interests. **Schools tax:** The California Teachers Association and other unions placed [this measure](https://www.protectingca.com) on the ballot to make a state income tax increase permanent on the top 2% of high-income earners. First approved by voters in 2012 through Proposition 30 and renewed in 2016 with Proposition 55, the tax hike is set to expire in 2031. It raised marginal tax rates from 9.3% to 10.3% for single filers earning at least $361,000 and joint filers earning at least $721,000; and to 11.3% on single filers at least $433,000 and joint filers earning $866,000; and to 12.3% on single filers earning more than $721,000 and joint filers earning more than $1.4 million. The higher rates generate about $6 billion a year, with 89% going to California’s K–12 schools and 11% to community colleges. **Prohibiting personal property taxes/retroactive taxes:** Acting as a countermeasure to the proposed tax on billionaires, [the Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act](https://protectretirementca.org/) would prohibit new state personal property taxes, including on retirement accounts and assets. It would also limit retroactive taxes that take effect on or after Jan. 1, 2026. If both this measure and the billionaire’s tax pass, the one with the most votes will become law. **Middle-income home loans:** [This measure](https://cahomescoalition.com/), supported by construction unions and the California Association of Realtors, would authorize the sale of $25 billion in state bonds to allow residents to buy newly built homes, condominiums or townhouses with as little as 3% of their own money down. If approved, the program would provide the other 17% of a home’s value through second mortgages to cover the down payment, which is usually 20%. The bonds would be repaid by the home buyers, who must be California residents, live in the home, and earn no more than 200% of the median income for their region. **Health Clinics:** Sponsored by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, [this measure](https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-008) would require local health clinics in California that receive federal funds to spend at least 90% of their annual revenue on patient services and programs rather than management and overhead. It is opposed by the California Hospital Association. **Local taxes:** Placed on the ballot Thursday by state lawmakers as part of a compromise with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, [this measure](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260ACA22) would require a two-thirds margin to pass local taxes that qualify for the ballot through signature gathering. Current law allows 50%. In exchange, the taxpayers association withdrew a more far-reaching ballot measure that would have limited fees local government can charge on the sale of real estate, and which also would have imposed the two-thirds requirement on taxes put on the ballot through signature gathering, voiding such taxes back to 2017. **Recall elections: **In state recall elections, voters are currently asked whether a public official should be recalled and who should succeed them in office if the recall is successful. This measure, placed on the ballot by state lawmakers, instead would have the office “remain vacant until it is filled in accordance with the Constitution and statute.” For example, if the governor were removed from office, the lieutenant governor would become the governor for the remainder of the term. The exception would be if the recall is in the first two years of the governor’s term and ahead of the nomination period for a statewide election. Then a special election would be held. The measure also would repeal a ban on a person being subject to recall from being a candidate to fill the office in a special election. **Taxes:** Another countermeasure to the billionaires’ tax, backed by funding from Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, agricultural titan Stewart Resnick and other billionaires, this measure would require audits for ballot initiatives proposing special taxes and invalidate taxes that don’t comply with state spending limits.