California 2024 ballot propositions

2024 California Ballot Propositions
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As of May 4, 2024, 11 statewide ballot propositions have qualified for the ballot in California for elections in 2024.

HIGHLIGHTS

California voters decided on a pair of bills appearing as Proposition 1 designed to make changes to the state's Mental Health Services Act on March 5, 2024.

Six citizen initiatives have qualified for the ballot, including one veto referendum. The initiatives relate to pandemic prevention, the state's minimum wage, remediation for labor violations, vote requirements for new taxes, local rent control, and oil and gas well regulations.

The state legislature voted to send an additional four constitutional amendments to statewide ballots in November:

• an amendment to repeal the local voter requirement for publicly-funded housing projects classified as low rent;
• an amendment to establish a right to marry and repeal Proposition 8 (2008);
• an amendment to require initiatives that change vote thresholds to supermajority votes to pass by the same vote requirement as is being proposed; and
• an amendment to lower the vote threshold from 66.67% to 55% for local special taxes to fund housing projects and public infrastructure.

On the ballot

March 5:

Type	Title	Description	Result	Yes Votes	No Votes
LRSS	Proposition 1	Change the Mental Health Services Act to Behavioral Health Services Act and issue bonds for veteran housing and housing for homeless persons	a	3,636,678 (50%)	3,610,436 (50%)

November 5:

Type	Title	Description
CISS	$18 Minimum Wage Initiative	Increase minimum wage to $18 an hour
CISS	Employee Civil Action Law and PAGA Repeal Initiative	Repeals the Private Attorneys General Act
LRCA	Lower Supermajority Requirement to 55% for Local Special Taxes to Fund Housing and Public Infrastructure Amendment	Lower the vote threshold from 66.67% to 55% for local special taxes and bond measures to fund housing projects and public infrastructure
VR	Oil and Gas Well Regulations Referendum	Repeals Senate Bill 1137, which prohibits new oil and gas wells within health protection zones
CICA/SS	Pandemic Early Detection and Prevention Institute Initiative	Increase the income tax by 0.75% for 10 years and create the California Pandemic Early Detection and Prevention Institute
CISS	Prohibit State Limitations on Local Rent Control Initiative	Repeals Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act
LRCA	Remove Voter Approval Requirement for Public Low-Rent Housing Projects Amendment	Repeals constitutional requirement that voters approve publicly-funded housing projects at certain rent levels
LRCA	Right to Marry and Repeal Proposition 8 Amendment	Repeal Proposition 8 and establish a right to marry
CICA	Two-Thirds Legislative Vote and Voter Approval for New or Increased Taxes Initiative	Require new state taxes to be enacted via a two-thirds legislative vote and voter approval and require new local taxes to be enacted via a two-thirds vote of the local electorate
LRCA	Vote Requirements for Initiatives Requiring Supermajority Votes Amendment	Require initiatives that change vote thresholds to supermajority votes to pass by the same vote requirement as is being proposed

Withdrawn

See also: List of California ballot initiatives that were withdrawn after signature verification

The campaigns behind the following ballot initiatives collected enough valid signatures for their measures to appear on the ballot but withdrew their proposals.

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Reason	Status
VR	Fast Food Restaurant Minimum Wage and Labor Regulations Referendum	Business regulation and Minimum wage	Creation of a 10-member fast food council within the Department of Industrial Relations to set minimum wage and labor standards for fast food workers	Legislative compromise enacted

Potential citizen-initiated measures

In California, citizens have the right to initiate legislation through the ballot initiative or repeal legislation through the veto referendum. Getting an initiative or referendum placed on the ballot requires a measure's proponents to complete four steps:

• Step 1—Proposal filed for ballot title: Proponents file their proposed ballot initiative with the attorney general to receive circulating language.

• Step 2—Cleared for signature gathering: Proponents receive the circulating language for their ballot initiative, which allows them to begin collecting signatures.

• Step 3—25-percent threshold for signatures: Campaign reports that 25 percent of the required signatures for the ballot initiative have been collected, which requires legislative hearings on the proposal.

• Step 4—Submission of signatures: Proponents of an initiative file signatures with local election officials.

Signatures submitted for verification

Proponents of a ballot initiative file signatures with local elections officials, who then have eight days to determine a raw count of unverified signatures and communicate the count to the secretary of state. If the raw count is more than the required number of signatures, the secretary of state instructs local officials to conduct a random sampling of the submitted signatures. If the random sample indicates more than 110 percent of the required number of signatures, the initiative qualifies for the ballot. If the sample indicates fewer than 95 percent of the required number of signatures, the initiative fails to make the ballot. If the random sample indicates more than 95 percent but fewer than 110 percent, a full check of each signature must be conducted.

Type	ID	Description	Number Required
CISS	#23-0024	Managed Care Organization Tax Authorization Initiative	546,651
CISS	#23-0017	Increase Drug and Theft Penalties and Reduce Homelessness Initiative	546,651
CISS	#23-0022	Require Personal Finance Course for High School Graduation Initiative	546,651
CISS	#23-0021	Require Certain Participants in Medi-Cal Rx Program to Spend 98% of Revenues on Patient Care Initiative	546,651

25 percent of signatures reached

Proponents of initiatives are required to report when 25 percent of the number of signatures required had been gathered. The secretary of state notifies each chamber of the California State Legislature to hold joint public hearings on the initiative proposals. Legislators could decide to consider the initiative as legislation, although this has no direct effect on whether an initiative appears on the ballot. Proponents of an initiative could consider withdrawing their proposal if the legislature approved their initiative as legislation.

Type	ID	Description	Proponent	Signature Deadline	Number Required
CISS	#23-0027	Gender and Transgender-Related Policies in Schools, Sports, and Medicine Initiative	Jonathan Zachreson	May 28, 2024	546,651
CISS	#23-0029	Changes to the State Children's Services Program Initiative	Ann-Louise Kuhns	June 24, 2024	546,651

Cleared for signature gathering

Once the attorney general's office assigns a ballot title and a summary to an initiative, proponents are allowed to begin collecting signatures. Proponents of an initiative are given 180 days from the date the title and summary were assigned to collect the required signatures. Proponents of a veto referendum are given 90 days from the date the governor signed the targeted legislation.

Type	ID	Description	Proponent
CICA	#23-0009, #23-0010, #23-0028	Right to Public Education Initiative	James J. Cowie
CICA	#23-0016	Election Policies Initiative	Carl DeMaio
CISS	#23-0018	Require Parental Notification for Student Gender Changes Initiative	Clare Erin Friday
CISS	#23-0019	Prohibit Males (XY Chromosomes) from Competing in Female (XX Chromosomes) Sports in Public Schools and Universities Initiative	Jonathan Zachreson
CISS	#23-0020	Prohibit Medical Procedures and Prescriptions to Alter Sex Characteristics of Children for Purpose of Changing Gender Identity Presentation Initiative	Jonathan Zachreson
CISS	#23-0023	Increased Penalties for Fentanyl Dealers Initiative	Matthew Capelouto
CISS	#23-0025	Changes to New Housing Construction Regulations Initiative	Stephen Hilton
CICA/SS	#23-0026	Education Savings Accounts Initiative	Kevin McNamee
CICA/SS	#23-0030	Tribal Sports Betting Regulation Initiative	Ryan Tyler Walz
CICA	#23-0031	Tribal Sports Betting Initiative	Ryan Tyler Walz
CISS	#23-0032	Legalize Psychedelics for Medical and Therapeutic Use Initiative	David Hodges, Tomas Garrett, Chelsea Candelaria, Carsten Fisher
CICA	#23-0034	Establish University of California Online Initiative	Boyd Roberts
CISS	#23-0035	Social Media Company Penalties for Child Harm Initiative	James P. Steyer

Filed with attorney general

The first step to getting an initiative prepared for signature gathering is submitting the proposal to the attorney general's office, which prepares a ballot title and summary of the proposal. When a proposal arrives at the office, the measure receives an expected date for when the attorney general will issue a ballot title and summary.

There are no outstanding initiatives filed with the attorney general.

Potential legislative referrals

The California State Legislature can refer statewide measures to the ballot. There are several forms of legislative referrals in California, including constitutional amendments, state statutes, and bond issues. Referrals can appear on statewide election ballots, including primary elections and general elections.

California is one of 16 states that requires a two-thirds vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 54 (of 80) votes in the California State Assembly and 27 (of 40) votes in the California State Senate, assuming no vacancies. The governor's signature is not required to refer a constitutional amendment.

The legislature can refer statutes with a simple majority vote and bond issues with a two-thirds vote, and the governor's signature is also required. In California, changes to voter-approved ballot initiatives need to be referred to voters for approval or rejection unless the changes further the initiative's purpose.

Type	Number	Name	Subject	Description
LBM	AB 305	Flood Protection Bond Measure	Bond issues	Issues $4.5 billion in bonds for flood protections
LBM	AB 1657	Housing Bond Measure	Bond issues	Issues $10 billion in bonds to fund rental housing and homeownership programs for households at certain income thresholds
LBM	SB 867	Parks, Environment, Energy, and Water Bond Measure	Bond issues	Issues $15.5 billion in bonds to fund state and local parks, environmental protection projects, water infrastructure projects, energy projects, and flood protection projects
LRSS	SB 22	Changes to Proposition 47 and Criminal Trial Practices Measure	Civil and criminal trials and Law enforcement	Authorizes persons convicted of two or more theft-related offenses to be punished as a misdemeanor or felony based on the value of property involved
LBM	SB 28	Public School and College Health and Safety Bond Measure	Bond issues	Issues $15.5 billion in bonds to fund health and safety projects for school districts and public colleges
LBM	AB 408	Farming and Food-Access Bond Measure	Bond issues	Issues $3.365 billion in bonds to fund agricultural and farming lands, infrastructure, and worker development
LBM	AB 1567	Drinking Water, Natural Disaster Prevention, Energy, and Workforce Development Bond Measure	Bond issues	Issues $15.995 billion in bonds to fund drinking water projects, natural disaster prevention projects, energy, and workforce development
LBM	AB 247	Public Education Facilities Bond Measure	Education and Bond issues	Issues $14 billion in bonds to fund public education facilities construction and modernization
LBM	SB 638	Climate and Flood Protection Bond Measure	Environment and Bond issues	Issues $6 billion in bonds to fund flood protection and climate projects
LBM	SB 834	Family Home Construction and Homeownership Bond Measure	Housing and Bond issues	Issues $25 billion to fund the state Family Home Construction and Homeownership Act
LRSS	SB 24/AB 270	Allow Candidates to Use Public Money from Dedicated Funds Measure	Elections and campaigns	Authorizes candidates or officeholders to use public money to campaign if it is from a dedicated fund established for that purpose
LBM	AB 1510	Fentanyl Overdose Prevention Bond Measure	Bond issues	Issues a bond to fund fentanyl oversode prevention and treatment
LRCA	ACA 6	Labor Standards for Employees of the University of California Regents Amendment	Labor and unions	State that employees of the Regents of the University of California have a right to the payment of a prevailing wage
LRCA	ACA 7	Amend Proposition 209 to Authorize State Programs Based on Race, Ethnicity, National Origin, or Genders Amendment	Affirmative action	Amend the state constitution to authorize the state to use public funds to fund programs for "purposes of increasing the life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty specific groups based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or marginalized genders, sexes, or sexual orientations"
LRCA	ACA 8	Remove Involuntary Servitude as Punishment for Crime Amendment	Constitutional language	Amend the state constitution to remove involuntary servitude as punishment for crime
LRCA	SCA 6	Authorize Multiple Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans Amendment	Taxes and Veterans	Removes the provision prohibiting veterans from claiming the homeowners' property tax exemption and a veteran or disabled veteran property tax exemption
LRCA	SCA 1	Eliminates Successor Election at a State Officer Recall Election Amendment	Recall measures	Eliminates the successor election when a state officer is recalled

Comparison to prior election cycles

See also: List of California ballot propositions and History of Initiative & Referendum in California

In California, a total of 402 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1985 and 2022. Two hundred thirty-one ballot measures were approved, and 171 ballot measures were defeated.

California statewide ballot measures, 1985-2022
Total number	Annual average	Annual minimum	Annual maximum	Approved		Defeated
				#	%	#	%
402	8.93	0	28	231	57.46	171	42.54

Ballot initiative certification rates

See also: Ballot initiatives filed for the 2024 ballot

The following table shows the rate of certification for ballot initiatives in California between 2010 and 2022:

California statewide ballot initiatives filed and certified, 2010-2022
Year	Ballot initiatives filed	Certified
		#	%
2022	53	6	11.3
2020	46	8	17.4
2018	66	8	12.1
2016	137	15	10.9
2014	89	4	4.5
2012	87	13	14.9
2010	96	11	11.5
Averages	82.0	9.3	11.8

Not on the ballot

Type	ID	Description	Status
CISS	#23-0004	Psilocybin Mushroom Legalization Initiative
CICA	#23-0005	Changes to Tax Assessment on Inherited Homes Initiative
CISS	#23-0006	Landfill Management and Education Funding Initiative
CISS	#23-0007	Electronic Signatures for Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Measure Initiative
CISS	#23-0008	Solar Family Farms Initiative
CICA	#23-0011	Authorize Local Land Use and Planning and Repeal Article 34 Initiative
CISS	#23-0012	Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Limit Initiative
CICA/SS	#23-0013	Establish TREAT Institute Initiative
CISS	#23-0014	Prohibit Oil and Gas Wells within Health Protection Zones Initiative
CISS	#23-0015	Access to Public Records Initiative
VR	#22-0005	Fast Food Restaurant Minimum Wage and Labor Regulations Referendum
BI	AB 411	Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Measure
CICA/SS	#21-0039	Tribal Government Mobile and Retail Sports Betting Initiative
CISS	#22-0004	Require State to Pay Spousal Support Initiative
CICA	#22-0007	Right to Education Amendment
CICA	#23-0001, 23-0002, 23-0003	Establish Right to Public Education Initiative
CISS	#23-0033	Firearm Regulations and Safety Program Initiative

Local ballot measures

See also: California 2024 local ballot measures

Click here to read about 2024 local ballot measures in California.

See also

• 2024 ballot measures
• List of California ballot propositions
• Laws governing ballot measures in California
• Campaign finance requirements for California ballot measures

External links

• California Secretary of State Ballot Measures