Here are the 10 California props we'll be voting on in November

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We now know how many propositions we’ll be voting on in the fall: 10. Wednesday was the final deadline to qualify for the November ballot, which makes it official.

We also set a state record: eight measures qualified but were then taken off the ballot — the largest number in a single election year.

Here's a breakdown of what made it to your ballot and why so many ballot measures were withdrawn in the last few weeks. (Keep in mind that this is just state measures. We won’t know the status of local ballot measures for a couple more weeks.)

The 5 measures proposed by citizens

California allows any voter to put an initiative on the ballot if they can gather enough signatures to qualify. This year’s threshold was 546,641 signatures. Initiative supporters spent the last few months talking to potential voters at grocery stores, shopping centers and community events in hopes of collecting their signatures.

Raising the minimum wage

This would make California raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour each year until it reaches $18. The current minimum wage is $16 an hour. Many local governments have minimum wages above the state’s, including the city of L.A., where it's $16.78 an hour and will go up to $17.28 an hour on July 1.  

Rent control

This would repeal a law, known as Costa Hawkins, that limits the type of housing subject to rent control. Right now, cities can’t impose rent control laws on any housing built after 1995, any single-family homes, or condos. This measure would allow cities to enact rent control laws on any of these types of housing. (This isn’t the first time a proposition has tried to repeal Costa Hawkins — a similar measure in 2018 failed by nearly 20 percentage points.) 

Health care provider spending

This would require health care providers who are part of a federal discount prescription drug program to spend 98% of revenues from that program on direct patient care. There are no such spending regulations right now, and proponents of this measure say these rules need to be imposed to prevent misuse of taxpayer funds. 

Reversing some criminal justice reforms

This measure would roll back key portions of Proposition 47, which voters passed in 2014 in an effort to pull back over-incarceration and reform the state’s criminal justice system. Prop 47 reduced penalties for certain crimes, including drug possession and theft worth less than $950, so that they would be misdemeanors instead of felonies. This new measure would allow those crimes to be charged as felonies once more. It would also increase sentences for fentanyl dealers and people who have been repeatedly convicted of retail theft.

(You might have heard that Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers were working on a competing anti-crime measure, but it was scrapped at the last minute.)

Health insurance tax

The state currently imposes a tax on managed health care plans, which funds health care services for low-income patients who are covered by Medi-Cal. This tax is set to expire in 2026. This proposition would make the tax permanent.

The 3 measures put forward by the California Legislature

These measures require voter approval because they alter the state constitution or the way we vote.

New affordable housing construction

Right now, if cities want to issue general obligation bonds (which are mainly paid back in taxes) to pay for the construction of affordable housing or public infrastructure, they generally need a two-thirds vote to approve the bond. This proposition would lower that threshold to 55% of the vote. 

Marriage as a fundamental right

This proposition would repeal a law in the state constitution (added after the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008) that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, replacing it with language stating that marriage is a fundamental right in California. The existing law has been inactive since 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of protecting same-sex marriage. This 2024 measure would be the final step in getting Prop 8 off the books.

Prohibit forced labor

This measure would amend the state constitution to prohibit any form of forced labor or servitude, which is currently allowed as punishment for a crime. If the measure passes, it would mainly affect incarcerated people — they would still be able to take on work assignments in prison, but couldn't be disciplined for not accepting one.

Bond measures

General obligation bonds allow the state to borrow large sums of money, but they must be approved by voters. These bonds are paid back by our state taxes.

• Climate bond. This $10 billion bond would pay for several climate programs whose funding was cut in recent years due to the state’s budget deficit. The financing would go toward upgrading drinking water infrastructure, forest and wildfire prevention programs, combating sea level rise, and clean energy projects, among other programs. 
• School facilities bond. This is another $10 billion bond that would help repair and upgrade school facilities across California. About $8.5 billion would go to K-12 schools and $1.5 billion would go to community colleges.  

These are the measures that went away

People following the propositions closely probably noticed that a bunch of measures that qualified for the ballot are no longer on our list. That’s because eight measures were pulled off the ballot for a few reasons:

Reason #1: The measure’s backers changed their mind. It costs a lot of money to campaign for a proposition, so people who put forward ballot measures sometimes opt for a different route. This happened with one measure that would have repealed a part of the California constitution that requires cities to vote to approve affordable housing projects that use 51% or more of government funding. Its author, state Sen. Ben Allen, said there were too many other propositions on the ballot and that the Legislature was addressing the issue in other ways. 

Reason #2: The measure’s backers worked out a deal with lawmakers. In the weeks leading up to the qualification and withdrawal deadline, state lawmakers and ballot measure proponents often negotiate compromises, where lawmakers agree to amend existing laws or support similar bills if the measure gets withdrawn. They made deals over six propositions (you can read about some of those compromises in more detail here):

• A measure to repeal a 2003 law that made it easier for people to sue their employers for violations of state labor law.
• A measure to expand a state program that provides health services and financial support for children with certain illnesses, including cerebral palsy, sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis.
• A measure that could impose a 0.75% tax on personal incomes over $5 million over the next 10 years to fund pandemic detection and prevention efforts.
• A measure that would require public high schools to add a one-semester course on personal finance to their graduation requirements.
• A measure that would have repealed a state law and prohibit new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of hospitals, nursing homes and schools. 
• A measure to repeal a state law that would have created a council to set working standards for fast food workers. Both the state law and ballot measure were withdrawn.

Reason #3: The California Supreme Court struck it down. One proposition would have dramatically changed how new taxes get approved by requiring a statewide majority vote to approve any new taxes passed by the Legislature. The court ruled that the proposal would “substantially alter our basic plan of government” and couldn’t be passed via ballot initiative.

Another measure that would have changed the percentage of voters needed to pass legislation was delayed to November 2026.

It may seem a little wild that so many propositions qualified for the ballot only to be taken off at the last minute. And, well, it is. Usually, only a small handful of measures get withdrawn after they qualify — the previous record was three, set in 2018.

Our partners at CalMatters sum up the backstory:

What happens next?

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