California General Election 2026

Measure LA

Budget and infrastructure

Rewrites City Hall's budget and building rules: two-year budgets, a required long-term infrastructure plan, and more power for the Public Works director. Yes = these Charter changes; No = yearly budget and Board of Public Works stay.

Heads up: Also lets the Council abolish the Board of Public Works, lets the City mortgage its property and run businesses, and exempts some contracts from competitive bidding (City pamphlet).

Measure PL

Planning appeals

Overhauls LA planning: replaces seven area planning commissions with one Neighborhood Appeals Commission, lets Planning Department staff decide more cases, and sets deadlines for Council review. Yes = these changes; No = current system stays.

Heads up: Flips a default: if the Council doesn't act within 75 days, a recommended General Plan change is approved instead of denied. Council could change the Charter's floor-area cap by ordinance.

Measure EE

Ethics and elections

Ethics and governance package: bigger campaign-finance fines, a five-year ban on ethics commissioners running for city or LAUSD office, and more independence for police and fire watchdogs. Yes = these Charter changes; No = no change.

Heads up: Bundled in: required Council meetings drop from three a week to one, and referendum petitions would need signatures equal to 15% of mayoral votes, up from 10% (City pamphlet).

Measure PRK

Parks budget

Over 10 years, doubles the minimum share of the city budget that must go to parks: about $303M now, about $995M by 2036–37 with property growth. No new tax. Yes = more for parks; No = current minimum.

Heads up: No new money: the extra, about $497 million a year by 2036–37, must come from other services like public safety, public works and homeless services (CAO).

Measure PRT

Airports, port and DWP

Lets airports and DWP sign leases up to 66 years (now 50), requires 5 of 7 airport commissioners to live near LAX or Van Nuys (now 2), and mandates Port public-access spending and job-impact disclosures. Yes = changes; No = none.

Measure FD

Fire department sales tax

Adds a half-cent city sales tax (10.25% to 10.75%) for the LA Fire Department: staff, paramedics, trucks, stations, brush clearance. About $345M a year, no end date, with audits and citizen oversight. Yes = tax; No = no tax.

Heads up: Put on by the firefighters' union via petition, so it needs only a simple majority, not two-thirds. Prop 43 wouldn't change that; it covers measures approved after Jan. 1, 2027.

Measure SC

School board campaign rules

Makes LAUSD school board candidates follow the same campaign finance rules as mayoral candidates ($1,000 donation limits, disclosure, Ethics Commission audits), with some exceptions, and lets the Council adjust them by ordinance. Yes = consolidate rules; No = keep separate rules.

Heads up: 'Same as mayor' has exceptions: no city matching funds, and the city's extra limits on donations from city contractors and lobbyists don't apply. Council could add exceptions by ordinance.

Measure E

Ethics commission

Writes the new county Ethics Commission's independence, investigative and subpoena powers, and a minimum budget (about $14.3M a year) into the county charter. Yes = locked in; No = commission continues under 2024's Measure G without these guarantees.

Heads up: Also restores Measure J: at least 10% of the county's unrestricted general fund for community investment and jail alternatives, a rule Measure G accidentally erased in 2024 (LAist).

Prop 1

Housing bonds

Lets the state borrow $11.25 billion for affordable housing: rentals, homebuyer help, farmworker and student housing, and veteran home loans. Most is repaid from the general budget, about $500–600 million a year for 25 years. Yes = borrow; No = don't.

Prop 2

Rainy day fund

Makes the state keep saving until its rainy-day fund reaches 20% of general-fund taxes (now 10%), and extends required extra debt payments through 2040. Yes = bigger required savings; No = current rules stay.

Heads up: Not in the title: rainy-day deposits would stop counting toward the voter-approved state spending limit until withdrawn (LAO). Opponents say that makes taxpayer rebates less likely.

Prop 3

Keep high-income tax

Makes permanent the higher income-tax rates on top earners (over $371K single, $742K couples) that began in 2012 and expire in 2031. Keeps $5–15 billion a year, about 40% for schools. Yes = permanent; No = rates expire.

Prop 4

Public campaign financing

Lifts California's ban on using public money to fund candidates' campaigns, so state and local governments may create optional programs with spending limits and safeguards. It creates no program itself. Yes = ban lifted; No = ban stays.

Heads up: Double negative: Yes removes the ban. LA City races are already exempt as a charter city and already have public matching funds (LAO).

Prop 5

Recall elections

Drops the 'who should replace them?' question from state recall ballots. If a governor is recalled, the lieutenant governor takes over; other vacancies are filled by appointment or a later special election. Yes = one-question recalls; No = current system.

Heads up: Title says 'statewide,' but it also covers state legislators, whose seats would be filled by a later special election. A recalled official could run in it (AG summary, LAO).

Prop 37

New-home buyer loans

Lets the state housing agency sell up to $25 billion in bonds to lend middle-income buyers up to 17% of a new home's price (buyer puts 3% down). Buyers' payments repay the bonds, not taxpayers. Yes = create program; No = don't.

Heads up: Not in the title: builders who meet higher labor standards get construction-defect rules LAO calls more flexible for developers. Main funder: California Association of Realtors (FPPC).

Prop 39

Voter ID

Requires voter ID: show government ID to vote in person, and write the last four digits of your chosen ID number on mail-ballot envelopes. Officials must also try to verify voters' citizenship. Yes = new ID rules; No = signature checks continue.

Heads up: A mail ballot wouldn't count if the ID digits on the envelope don't match the ID you chose at registration, e.g., Social Security vs. driver's license (AG summary).

Prop 41

Tax limits and audits

Cancels new state taxes (since Jan. 1, 2026) that skip the state spending limit. Requires State Auditor reviews of programs funded by new special taxes, before initiative votes and every four years. Yes = limits and audits; No = no change.

Heads up: Can cancel Prop 40: if 41 gets more yes votes, courts could block the billionaire tax (LAO). Main funder: a group bankrolled by Sergey Brin and other billionaires (FPPC, CalMatters).

Prop 42

No personal property taxes

Bans new state taxes on owning personal property, such as stocks, retirement and investment accounts, and business stakes, plus certain retroactive taxes. Cancels conflicting taxes passed since Jan. 1, 2026. Yes = ban; No = state keeps the option.

Heads up: Can cancel Prop 40: if 42 gets more yes votes, courts could block the billionaire tax (LAO). Main funder: a group bankrolled by Sergey Brin and other billionaires (FPPC, CalMatters).

Prop 43

Harder local tax initiatives

Raises the vote needed to pass local special taxes put on the ballot by citizen petition from a simple majority to two-thirds, starting Jan. 1, 2027. Council-placed ones already need two-thirds. Yes = two-thirds needed; No = majority still enough.

Heads up: Yes makes local taxes harder to pass. The Legislature placed it in a deal with the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to keep a stricter measure off the ballot (CalMatters).

Prop 44

Clinic spending rules

Requires nonprofit community health clinics (federally qualified health centers) to spend at least 90% of revenue on patient care and related services, or pay penalties. Yes = 90% rule; No = no new rule.

Heads up: Sponsored and funded by the SEIU-UHW health workers union, which also sponsors Prop 40. Nonprofit clinics fund the opposition; clinics now average about 80% on care (LAO, FPPC).

Prop 45

Faster environmental review

Speeds environmental (CEQA) reviews and lawsuits for 'essential' projects (most housing, transit, water, clean energy, schools, clinics) if the applicant opts in: hard deadlines, narrower court review. Yes = fast track available; No = current rules.

Heads up: Placed by the California Chamber of Commerce. Top funders include homebuilders and utilities PG&E and Edison; building-trades unions and environmental groups fund the No side (CalMatters, FPPC).

Abundant Housing LA stayed neutral: it would speed infill housing and clean energy, but also highways and sprawl, and it takes a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to fix later.

Supreme Court

Vote yes or no on keeping each justice.

Court of Appeal

Second District. Vote yes or no on keeping each justice.

The LA County Bar Association agrees.