City Ethics, Elections, and Governance

Amendment EE would allow the City Council to meet once a week instead of three times, as the city charter now requires. The council voted 12-0 to put the measure on the ballot, with Councilmembers Heather Hutt, Curren Price, and Monica Rodriguez absent.

Amendment EE would also approve giving independent inspectors for the Los Angeles Police Department and Fire Department more power to conduct audits, significantly increasing the penalties for campaign finance violations, barring ethics commissioners from running for City Council or the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for five years after they leave office, and increasing the amount of signatures needed for a ballot referendum from 10% to 15% of the votes cast in the last mayoral election.

City Airports, Harbor, and Water and Power Departments

This amendment would change the composition of Los Angeles World Airports’ board of commissioners, which oversees Van Nuys and Los Angeles International airports. It would require that two of the seven board members live in Van Nuys and that three live around LAX, a footprint the amendment does not define.

In addition, the amendment would require the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners to annually allocate a portion of the harbor’s operating income to investments in waterfront public access projects. It would broaden public insight into how lease agreements with the port affect the local workforce by requiring any port leaseholder extending a lease or lease applicant to disclose an overview of its employment information.

Property Transfer Tax Exemption for Victims of the January 2025 Fire Disaster

This measure would exempt residential properties that were damaged or destroyed by the Palisades Fire from Proposition ULA tax.

If a damaged or destroyed residential property is sold between January 7, 2025 and January 6, 2030 by the owner on the date the fire began, the sale would qualify for a one-time refund or exemption from the Proposition ULA tax.

Funding for the Los Angeles Fire Department Through a One-Half Percent Sales Tax

Measure FD would provide funding for the Los Angeles Fire Department to hire firefighters, paramedics, and other staff; purchase and maintain vehicles and equipment; build and upgrade fire stations; and conduct brush clearance.

The funding would come from a 0.5% sales tax in the City of Los Angeles, with annual audits and a citizen oversight committee, generating approximately $345 million annually. The measure has no sunset date unless voters end it.

It would raise the sales tax in the City of Los Angeles to 10.75%.

City Infrastructure, Budget, Finance, and Contracting

A City Charter amendment to establish a capital infrastructure plan and two-year budget cycle for the City. Currently, the City is not required to have a capital plan for City infrastructure projects.

• Public Works. The measure would increase the Director of Public Works’ authority to: directly manage public works project construction, including leasing or purchasing property; exercise the power of eminent domain, subject to City Council approval; oversee contract administration; grant street permits; and recommend operating budgets for the Department. Conversely, the measure would transfer some of the Board of Public Works’ authority to the Director and authorize the Council, by ordinance, to change or eliminate the Board.
• Contracting. The Charter requires the City to comply with competitive contract bidding rules, such as awarding contracts to qualified businesses for the lowest cost. This measure adds an exception to these rules for software services or maintenance contracts obtained from the software manufacturer and allows the City, by ordinance, to create an exception for certain critical infrastructure contracts vital to the City’s security, public health, or safety.
• City assets. The Charter prohibits the City from mortgaging City-owned property and prevents the City from operating purely commercial or industrial businesses. The measure would remove these restrictions to allow the City to utilize City-owned assets and engage in commercial or industrial businesses.

City Department of Recreation and Parks Budget

The City Charter establishes a minimum budget allocation for the Department of Recreation and Parks from the General Fund. That minimum budget is an amount equal to 0.0325% of the assessed value of all property as assessed for City taxes. The measure would increase the minimum budget allocation percentage gradually from the current 0.0325% to 0.065% of the assessed value of all property as assessed for City taxes, phased in over a ten-year period.

During a declared fiscal emergency, the City Council could reduce the increased funding required in this measure by up to 30% for the duration of the fiscal emergency.

City Planning Department

This amendment would replace the city’s seven Area Planning Commissions (APCs) and their 35 Commissioners with a single, new Neighborhood Appeals Commission (NAC) with at least seven members, subject to qualification requirements to be defined by ordinance. It would grant the new commission the power to hear administrative appeals and consider those appeals anew and without deference to earlier decision makers.

• Council jurisdiction. It would also change the existing process for City Council to assert jurisdiction in planning and land use matters. This measure would: (1) create a 30-day time limit for the City Planning Commission or Neighborhood Appeals Commission to concur with or dissent from City Council upon remand, after Council asserts jurisdiction; (2) require the Commissions’ action on remand to be referred to City Council for a final vote; and (3) require City Council to act within 21 days, or the action of the Commission becomes final.
• General Plan Amendments. In addition, it would deem General Plan Amendments automatically approved if City Council does not act within 75 days of approvals by the Mayor and City Planning Commission. This measure will: (1) replace current City law, which provides for an automatic disapproval of the General Plan Amendment if the City Council does not take action on the matter, and (2) codify in the Charter the 75-day time limit for City Council to act, which already exists in City law.
• Floor area. Lastly, it would allow the City Council to change the Floor Area Restriction limitation by ordinance. The Charter currently imposes a floor area limit of 13 times the buildable area of a site.

Campaign Finance Rules Related to Board of Education Elections

The measure would delete repetitive language in the Los Angeles City Charter and would make clear the same campaign finance rules apply to both mayoral candidates and Board of Education candidates, except in certain instances, the measure says.

Also appears on ballots throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Charter Amendment Reiterating Good Faith Negotiation Obligations and Establishing Impartial Binding Arbitration for Certified Public Safety Employee Disputes

This measure proposes an LA County Charter amendment to establish an impartial binding arbitration process for labor disputes for certain employees of the Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, and the Department of Medical Examiner, including district attorney investigators, medical examiners, lifeguards, supervisors, and nonadministrative civilian employees.

The Board of Supervisors put the measure on the ballot to “level the playing field” in the contract negotiations between the county and unionized public safety employees, who are prohibited by law from going on strike. Under current law, when disputes can’t be resolved, the county can impose its best and final offer, even if the union disagrees.

A three-member panel would issue a binding decision. The county would choose one member, the union would choose another member, and both parties would agree on a third member.

County of Los Angeles Ethics Commission and Community Investment Charter Amendment

The measure grants powers and funding to the recently created County Ethics Commission and Office of Ethics Compliance, increasing its independence by granting it the power to investigate misconduct by county officials, candidates, lobbyists, and contractors; issue subpoenas; and fine violators up to $15,000 per offense.

The Commission would be funded by a guaranteed minimum budget of $14.3 million a year intended to protect its independence.

Separately, the measure reestablishes that 10% of the County’s general fund must be set aside for community investment and alternatives to incarceration.

Veteran and Housing Assistance Programs Bond Measure

Prop. 1 would allow the state to sell $11.25 billion in bonds to fund affordable housing programs. Of that amount, $1.25 billion is earmarked for veteran housing, while the rest would fund rental homes, homeownership programs, farmworker housing, affordable student housing, tribal housing, and more. The bond is expected to help fund up to 40,000 multifamily rental units and help another 40,000 households buy a home.

Placed on the ballot by The California Legislature

Raise Limit on Rainy Day Fund Deposits

This constitutional amendment would allow the state to deposit up to 20% of its general fund tax revenue in the state’s reserves, up from the current ceiling of 10%. The deposits would not count toward the voter-approved Gann Limit, which caps the amount state lawmakers can spend each year and requires excess funds to be returned to the people. It also authorizes spending some tax revenue to pay down California’s $20 billion federal unemployment insurance debt.

Placed on the ballot by The California Legislature

Make Income Taxes on Higher Earners Permanent to Fund Education and Healthcare

Previous ballot measures, starting in 2012, temporarily increased the state income tax for higher earners to the current rates:

• 10.3%. $361K to $433K single / $721K to $866K joint
• 11.3%. $433K to $721K single / $866K to $1.4 million joint
• 12.3%. Above $721K single / $1.4 million joint

The tax rate for each of these brackets is set to revert to 9.3% in 2031. This measure would make the higher rates permanent. The higher rates typically raise $5 billion to $15 billion a year, about 3% to 10% of overall K-12 spending.

Placed on the ballot by The California Teachers Association

Allow Public Financing of Political Campaigns

The measure would authorize California’s state and local governments to establish public campaign funds for candidates if they choose to. It would reverse a 1988 ban on such systems for the state and most local governments. Currently, only five California cities have public financing for local offices, including Berkeley and San Francisco.

Placed on the ballot by The California Legislature

Delay Replacing Recalled State Officials

Under current law, replacement candidates appear on the same ballot as the question of whether to recall an elected official; after choosing whether to recall an elected official, voters are asked who should replace them. This constitutional amendment would delay the election of a successor until a separate election. The recalled officer would be allowed to run in that election. If the governor is recalled, the lieutenant governor would take over their duties until a new governor is elected.

Placed on the ballot by The California Legislature

Create Low-Cost Mortgages for Homebuyers

The measure would authorize California’s Housing Finance Agency to borrow up to $25 billion (but not be required to) to help would-be homebuyers purchase newly constructed houses and condos through down payment assistance loans of up to 17% of the purchase price. Paired with a typical 80% purchase loan, this would reduce down payments to 3%, and by applying only to new construction, the program is intended to spark housing production. Anyone earning up to twice the area’s median income would be eligible. Private lenders, not taxpayers, would be on the hook if homebuyers default.

Placed on the ballot by A coalition of real estate interests and labor unions

Borrow $8.4 Billion for Immunology Research

Proposition 38 would authorize an $8.4 billion bond largely to fund research into fighting cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s, plus other diseases that can be treated through immunotherapies. Half of the money would go to a research institute affiliated with the University of California. The other half would be distributed through a competitive grant process to select public universities and research nonprofits. Drugs created through this research would have to be offered at a 20% discount for Californians, and 10% of any treatment revenues from the drugs would go back to the state general fund.

Placed on the ballot by Philanthropist and medical inventor Gary Michelson

Require Identification for Voting

This initiative would require voters to show government-issued identification at the polls and order election officials to verify that all registered voters are U.S. citizens. Voters who cast a mail-in ballot would need to give the last four digits of a government ID, such as a driver’s license number. California currently requires residents to provide an identification card and Social Security number to register to vote but does not request it at polling places.

Placed on the ballot by Conservative groups

Apply One-Time Tax to Billionaires to Fund Healthcare and Education

Proposition 40 would require the estimated 200 Californians whose net worth exceeded $1 billion at the start of this year to pay a one-time 5% tax. The measure’s sponsor projects that it would raise roughly $100 billion over five years. That money would be earmarked primarily for healthcare, with some reserved for food assistance and education. If Propositions 41 or 42 earn more votes than Proposition 40, this measure would be nullified.

Placed on the ballot by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West

Require Audits of New Tax Programs

This proposition would make it harder to pass new special taxes by requiring the state auditor to review any special tax proposal before it goes to voters. The auditor would assess whether the program receiving funding could cut spending by at least 10% annually. Any new special tax approved by voters would count toward California’s spending limit, potentially triggering automatic refunds that reduce funding for other state programs. (The so-called Gann Limit, enacted shortly after Prop 13 during the state’s anti-tax revolt, contains triggers that require refunds to Californians if state revenues exceed certain benchmarks.) If this proposition receives more votes than Proposition 40 (a wealth tax on billionaires), Proposition 40 is nullified, even if Proposition 40 also passes.

Placed on the ballot by Opponents of the proposed billionaire tax

Ban New Taxes on Personal Property

Proposition 42 would make it much harder to create a wealth tax in California by prohibiting new taxes on the mere ownership of assets such as investment accounts, business interests, and personal property, assets that are typically taxed only when they are sold or generate income. Like Proposition 41, which also attempts to block Proposition 40 (a wealth tax on billionaires), Proposition 42 would nullify Proposition 40 if it receives more votes, even if the billionaire tax also passes.

Placed on the ballot by Opponents of the proposed billionaire tax

Raise Vote Threshold for Special Tax Measures

Current law requires a two-thirds vote to pass most local special tax measures placed on the ballot by legislative bodies (county supervisors, city councils) and a simple majority vote for those placed on the ballot through signature gathering. This measure would raise the threshold for the latter to two-thirds.

Placed on the ballot by State lawmakers, in a deal with the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to keep a more restrictive tax proposal off the ballot

Require More Clinic Spending on Patient Care

Proposition 44 would require community clinics that serve low-income patients to spend 90% of their annual revenue on patient care. The measure directs the attorney general to publish guidance on what spending qualifies and allows the state to fine clinics that don’t spend the full 90%. Clinics failed to keep the measure off the ballot with a lawsuit earlier this year.

Placed on the ballot by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, after the California Legislature failed to pass a similar bill last year

Speed Up Environmental Reviews for Housing and Infrastructure

Proposition 45 would limit reviews under the state’s landmark environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act. The measure aims to help advance “essential” projects more quickly and easily. It would impose a 365-day limit on environmental reviews for those projects, including infrastructure like roads and bridges, housing, schools, broadband, and wildfire mitigation. It would also require courts to rule within 270 days on lawsuits related to the environmental review law.

Placed on the ballot by The California Chamber of Commerce