California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph. D., Announces that a Proposed Initiative Has Entered Circulation

Limits Ability of Voters to Raise Revenues for Local Government Services. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

Sacramento, Calif. – Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber announced that the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures on August 29, 2025.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides a calendar of deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

LIMITS ABILITY OF VOTERS TO RAISE REVENUES FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Limits voters’ ability to pass voter-proposed local special taxes by raising the vote approval threshold requirement for such ballot measures from a simple majority (over 50%) to two-thirds. In charter cities, prohibits voters from approving real estate transfer taxes other than the existing 0.11% transfer tax authorized by Revenue and Taxation Code section 11911. Overturns all existing voter-approved property-related taxes, including real estate sales and transfer taxes, that do not comply with these requirements two years after the measure is enacted. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Annual loss of revenues to local governments totaling up to a couple of billion dollars, predominantly affecting certain charter cities. Potential future reduction in what local governments would otherwise collect in revenues due to a higher vote threshold for certain taxes and fewer types of taxes that local governments can adopt. (25-0006A1.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1983 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 25-0006A1.

The proponent of the measure, Jon Coupal, must collect signatures of 874,641 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2022 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than February 25, 2026. The address for the proponent is 1201 K Street, Suite 1030, Sacramento, CA 95814.