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Read the latest on the statewide initiatives vying for the 2024 ballot

The 2023 legislative session is coming to a close, and with it, comes a rush from our state leaders to act on over 1,000 bills vying to become law — some with enormous implications for propositions that will appear on the March and November ballots. 

Here are a few highlights:

• The Governor signed Assembly Bill 421 – reforming California's referendum process, which among other things, allows for referendums to be negotiated off the ballot.

  • Labor and the fast food industry struck a deal to raise wages to $20/hour – potentially nullifying the industry's referendum to overturn Assembly Bill 257. The agreement expires in 2029 and restricts localities from further increasing wages for fast food workers.

  • AB 421 also opens the door for oil and gas representatives, proponents of the referendum to overturn Senate Bill 1137, to negotiate a deal of their own next spring.

• Labor leaders and the health care industry are nearing a deal to establish a $25 minimum wage for health care workers – reportedly ending the reoccuring fight over dialysis at the ballot box.

• Assembly Constitutional Amendments (ACA) 1 and 13 – both of which impact voter thresholds and Proposition 13 – are being considered in the Senate and, if passed, must also be approved by voters before taking effect.

As always, click HERE to see a summary of all the initiatives and their status.

Take care,

Tom Ross | President and CEO | Swing Strategies

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The latest updates:

• Two initiatives were approved by the Legislature and Governor and have qualified for the March 2024 ballot.

  1. The initiative to repeal Article 34 of the California Constitution.

  2. The initiative to establish the right to marry as a fundamental right.

• Seven initiatives have already secured their spot on the November ballot ahead of 2024, verifying enough signatures to become eligible.

  1. The referendum challenging Assembly Bill 257, a law authorizing the creation of a council to set minimum wage and working standards for fast-food workers.

  2. The referendum challenging Senate Bill 1137, a law prohibiting most new oil and gas wells from being drilled within 3,200 feet of a sensitive receptor. 

  3. The initiative to increase personal income taxes to fund pandemic detection and prevention.

  4. The initiative that takes aim at the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA).​​​​​

  5. The initiative to raise minimum wage to $18 per hour.

  6. The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act — an initiative to give voters the final say on all new or higher state and local taxes.

  7. The initiative to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
• Eight initiatives have been issued title and summary from the Attorney General's office and are cleared for circulation.

  1. The initiative to provide a high-quality public education to all public school students.

  2. The initiative to ensure all students have the right to attend a high-quality public school. 

  3. The initiative to provide all public school students with high-quality public schools.

  4. The initiative to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms.

  5. The initiative to eliminate property tax reassessment for certain family real property transfers.

  6. The initiative to require aerobic management procedures in organic waste landfills.

  7. The initiative to establish a process where initiatives, referendums, and recall petitions can be circulated electronically. 

  8. The initiative to exempt solar family farms from being regulated as electrical corporations.

• Seventeen initiatives are pending title and summary at the Attorney General's office.

  1. The initiative to provide all public school students with high-quality public schools.

  2. The initiative to ensure all students have the right to attend high-quality public schools.

  3. The initiative to give local jurisdictions prevailing authority in land use planning decisions.

  4. The initiative to increase California's climate reduction goals.

  5. The initiative to establish an institute to research psychedelic therapy.

  6. The initiative to prohibit oil and gas production facilities near sensitive receptors.

  7. The initiative to transparency requirements for government officials.

  8. The initiative to increase voter identification requirements.

  9. The initiative to increase penalties for fentanyl and hard drug related crimes.

  10. The initiative to require schools to notify parents and legal guardians regarding gender treatment requests.

  11. The initiative to restrict males, as defined, from participating in female athletic programs.

  12. The initiative to prohibit the removal or modification of non-diseased genitals and sex characteristics of children.

  13. The initiative to permanently extend Medi-Cal.

  14. The initiative to require students receive personal finance education.

  15. The initiative to increase penalties for fentanyl related crimes.

  16. The initiative to establish a permanent funding source for Medi-Cal.

  17. The initiative to reduce non-compliance CEQA lawsuits.

The Big Picture

• Thirty-four measures are currently vying for the 2024 ballot – seventeen are pending at the Attorney General's office, eight have been cleared for circulation, seven are eligible for the November 2024 General Election ballot, and two have been placed on the March 2024 Primary Election ballot by the Legislature.

Recent Statewide Ballot Initiative News

"Labor, business reach deal to raise fast-food wages and end California ballot fight" By Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times, September 11, 2023
The deal between labor and fast-food companies will result in an increase in the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour in April and form a new council of representatives for workers and companies to consider pay bumps in the future, according to sources involved in the negotiations.

"California closes in on $25 health care wage" By Jeremy White, Politico, September 8, 2023
The emerging agreement between SEIU State Council and health care industry players would secure the $25 pay rate and impose a truce on recurring ballot fights over dialysis clinics. The industry agreed to the wage hike in exchange for a moratorium on bills and ballot initiatives targeting dialysis clinics, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations. Community clinics would potentially be covered in a separate bill.

"A look at the latest 2024 California ballot measure proposals" By Nicole Nixon, CapRadio, September 7, 2023
California lawmakers are winding down their time to debate and pass bills this year, but some citizen advocates are just getting started with their own plans to enact laws through ballot measures. 

"Landlords target AIDS Healthcare with proposed state ballot measure" By Dana Bartholomew, The Real Deal, September 5, 2023
A California landlords group wants to spend millions to support a ballot initiative to thwart one man: Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an advocate for rent control.

"A Devious Plan in the Legislature to Hurt California Citizens" By Skip Cooper, Los Angeles Sentinel, August 31, 2023
The move was exposed late Friday afternoon on August 18th, out of nowhere, a new constitutional amendment, ACA 13, was quietly put forward in Sacramento. The implications – it is a golden ticket for members of the political cult and their special interest groups to drive up our taxes and fees– making California’s cost of living even more of a stretch for middle- and low-income citizens. It is another chapter in the story of our state’s elected officials working to give regular California citizens less of a say over their future and lives.  

"ACA 13 attacks both Proposition 13 and direct democracy in California" By Jon Coupal, Orange County Register, August 25, 2023
The specific target of ACA 13 is a citizens’ initiative backed both by taxpayer organizations and the business community. The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (TPA) has already qualified for the November 2024 ballot, and polling shows it to be popular with voters. The TPA closes several loopholes created by the courts that have allowed special interests to work with local governments to raise taxes with a simple majority vote instead of the two-thirds vote required by Proposition 13.

"Businesses want to make it harder to raise California taxes. Democrats are pushing back" By Jeremy White, Politico, August 18, 2023
A tussle over tax hikes in California is intensifying. California Democrats have answered a tax-reform push by business groups with their own proposal to undercut it.

In case you missed it, here's our full summary of statewide ballot initiatives as they move through the process. And if you're curious about what's coming up on the horizon over the next couple of months, check out our political calendar here. Lastly, for Tom Ross' biweekly Happening In California newsletter, sign up here.