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Californians will decide 14 statewide propositions on the November ballot that will determine matters of taxation, voting, election funding, environmental protection and bonds to raise money for research and housing.
RELATED: Your Bay Area guide to the 2026 General Election One of two multibillion-dollar statewide housing bond measures on the ballot , Proposition 1 would let the state borrow $11.25 billion for a variety of housing efforts, such as financing low-income apartments and providing low-interest home loans to veterans and first-time homebuyers.
Housing California, a pro-housing group backing the measure, said that with state housing programs running low on money, tens of thousands of proposed affordable housing units need an additional funding source to break ground.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association opposes the measure, arguing that the state shouldn’t take on new debt when it projects multibillion-dollar budget deficits in the years ahead.
The proposed “Save for California’s Future Act” would raise the cap on the state’s Budget Stabilization Account , known as the rainy day fund and filled from capital gains and income tax revenues, from 10% to 20%.
It is at about $15.1 billion this fiscal year, up from $11.2 billion at the start of the last fiscal year. The state’s Democratic Party leaders say the proposition would let California set aside more money when times are good so the state has more of a cushion when economic downturns hit.
Republican Party leaders say it would allow what they see as chronic overspending by legislative Democrats and wouldn’t address the state’s outstanding federal loan balance.
The proposed “California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act” would keep California’s highest income tax rates , set to expire in 2031, in place indefinitely.
The top marginal income tax rates are up to 12% for single filers who earn over $360,000 per year, joint filers earning at least $721,000 and heads of households who earn more than $490,000. Those thresholds would be adjusted for inflation if approved.
Extending the tax rates would maintain $5 billion to $15 billion in annual income tax revenues collected. Voters initially approved the rates temporarily in 2012 and extended them in 2016.
The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers say passage would avoid billions of dollars in school f unding cuts.
Critics, including the California Taxpayers Association, say state taxpayers already pay the highest state income taxes in the country and that state leaders are wasting billions of dollars on failed programs.
The proposed “California Fair Elections Act of 2026” would lift a prohibition on counties, districts, most cities and the state from providing public funds to help candidates finance their campaigns . Only charter cities, such as San Jose, Oakland and Los Angeles, can offer such programs now.
The ballot measure would not mandate public campaign financing programs but would give more local governments the option to decide whether to have such programs. It also would increase penalties related to the influence of a foreign government or foreign principal on elections.
Sponsors, including California Clean Money Action Fund, California Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of California, say it would help level the playing field between candidates who aren’t as well-resourced and those backed by wealthy donors.
Critics, including the California Taxpayers Association, say it would force taxpayers to finance political speech they don’t agree with and that candida tes could fraudulently seek public financing, leading to abuse.
California’s more than 100-year-old recall process for state executive, legislative and judicial office-holders asks voters two questions: Whether the official should be removed from office, and who should replace the official if removed. The proposed measure would eliminate the second question .
For most offices, it would be treated under the rules for vacancies, in which the governor fills the position by appointment, or for legislative vacancies, it is filled by special election.
The measure would call for a recalled governor to be replaced by the lieutenant governor for the remainder of the term or until voters elect a new governor at a future statewide election.
Supporters, including California Common Cause and League of Women Voters of California, say it would remove the incentive and ability to weaponize recalls as a shortcut for partisan advantage.
Critics, including legislative Republican leaders, say the existing rules allow voters rather than politicians choose who replaces the recalled official. The proposed measure would close the path that put former Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger in office after the 2003 rec all of former Gov. Gray Davis amid the state’s electricity deregulation debacle.
The movie star won a 48.6% plurality out of 135 replacement candidates. The proposed measure would create a new state program to lend middle-income homebuyers up to 17% of the price of a newly constructed house, condo, townhouse or manufactured house .
The homebuyers would pay the remaining 3% to cover the full down payment. A household would need to earn no more than double the area median income in the county where the home is located, adjusted for family size, to qualify.
Former Los Angeles Democratic state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, a key proponent, said it would make the purchase of single-family houses more affordable and provide more Californians “the opportunity to move from being renters to being homeowners.” There is no organized opposition.
The proposed measure would authorize $8.4 billion in state general obligation bonds for immunology and immunotherapy research , treatments that use the body’s immune system to treat disease.
The funding would be allocated equally to a University of California-affiliated nonprofit medical research institute — to be chosen by the California Department of Public Health — and a grant program for public or nonprofit universities and institutions.
Backers, including Alzheimer’s Los Angeles and the ALS Association, say it would ensure California is a world leader in immunotherapy research. Critics, including retired East Bay Assembly members Loni Hancock and Tom Bates , say it is the wrong way to fund science.
The proposed measure would require California voters to present a government ID when voting in person, or to provide the last four digits of a “unique identifying number” when voting by mail .
The measure does not specify what qualifies as a unique identifying number and whether its verification would replace the signature verification process.
Backers, including Reform California, a statewide organization led by Republican state Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, say it will ensure election integrity in the vote-by-mail era.
Critics, including ACLU of Northern California and Common Cause, say it would impose needless burdens that could disenfranchise voters.
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