SACRAMENTO – LA Waterkeeper, the Association of California Water Agencies, Climate Resolve, the California Special Districts Association and a coalition of environmental, water and climate groups today warned that Proposition 43 would make it much harder for communities to fund clean water, open space and wildfire protection, and easier for data centers to avoid paying their share.

Prop 43 doesn't cut taxes. Californians need relief from the cost of living. Prop 43 will not bring costs down. It doesn't lower a single tax rate. It doesn't repeal a single tax. It doesn't put one dollar back in anyone's pocket. Anyone selling this as cost-of-living relief is selling you something that isn't in the measure.

By Chris Hoene | Executive Director of the California Budget & Policy Center

If you have ever felt like your perspective doesn’t matter — like the voices of others in your community, particularly those with resources and power, have far more say in your community’s direction and the choices its leaders make — you are not alone.

The bottom line on Prop. 43 is clear. It would make it harder for local communities to meet their needs and is fundamentally undemocratic, seeking to diminish the voices of the majority in choices about the future of the places they call home.

Link

It’s not often that the supporters and opponents of a ballot measure agree on what exactly it would do, let alone describe it the same way. Yet both sides of the fight over Proposition 43 have been clear: It will make it harder to raise local taxes.

What they don’t agree on is whether it’s a good idea. 

Bay Area leaders last week joined a growing chorus of local government officials across the state voicing strong opposition to Proposition 43, slamming the measure as a threat to critical financial lifelines for cities and counties.

Link

The measure would give a small fraction of the voters in a community veto power when it comes to special taxes placed on the ballot though citizen initiatives.

California’s next governor will be decided by a simple majority of voters in the Nov. 3 election. As will the next mayor of Los Angeles, and whether the state will require voters to show ID at the polls in the future.

That’s the way most elections work: Decisions big and small come down to the preference of most voters. This is the majority-rule principle in action, and it ensures that every vote carries equal weight.

Link

Sacramento – The No on Prop 43 campaign released today the following statement from Governor Gavin Newsom:

“I’m proud to stand with California’s teachers, firefighters, working families, and Planned Parenthood in opposing Prop 43. This dangerous corporate power grab would let big corporations avoid paying their fair share and threaten billions in funding for critical services like 911 response and wildfire prevention. Vote NO on 43.”

Mayors Daniel Lurie, Barbara Lee Stand With Firefighters & Frontline Workers to Sound the Alarm on Prop 43

As voters begin receiving ballots in the mail, leaders sound the alarm on corporate power grab that would strip communities of the power to invest in local priorities

Prop. 43 would make it harder for voters to approve local special taxes that they — not their local government officials — put on the ballot by raising the percentage of votes required for passage from 50 percent to two-thirds. We will spare you the minutia of applicable state tax and election codes, but the point here is to make it harder for people to tax themselves for specific purposes.

Link

Proposition 43 aims to tackle what supporters call a “loophole” in the rules for enacting local tax measures. The system, admittedly, is strange, but it works. We recommend Californians vote no on Prop. 43.

Link

SAN FRANCISCO – SMART Transportation Division, Move LA, California Transit Association, and a coalition of transit, transportation and infrastructure organizations today announced their opposition to Proposition 43. They warned that if the proposition passed, it would make it much harder for California communities to fund buses, trains, road repairs and safer streets.

Different kinds of tax measures face different requirements to pass. Why? Blame a complicated series of propositions and court decisions.

This fall, San Diego County voters will choose whether to raise the sales tax by half a cent to fund certain services — a decision they’ll make by a simple majority vote, thanks to the fact that a coalition of nonprofits and labor unions, not elected officials, placed the effort on the ballot.

Link

Howard Jarvis-backed gimmick would weaken local governments’ power, perilously making California cities and counties dependent on the state and federal government.

Link

California Communities Are Rejecting Measure That Will Limit Local Control, Jeopardize Public Safety

SACRAMENTO, CA – With 10 days before ballots hit mailboxes, a new Berkeley IGS Poll shows Prop. 43 sinking, with just 31% of likely general election voters in support versus 40% opposed.

Labor Leaders Warn Prop 43 Will Impede Local Communities’ Ability to Invest in Public Safety, Healthcare and Infrastructure

SACRAMENTO, CA – The No on Prop 43 campaign announced today a slate of California unions opposing the attempt to undermine voters today.

Proposition 43 is billed as a taxpayer protection measure that would “save” Proposition 13. In reality, it would make it much harder for citizen groups in California to pass tax increases to help pay for critical services such as fire and police protection, flood control, health care facilities and road maintenance.

SACRAMENTO, CA – A new PPIC poll shows Prop. 43 falling far short of mustering a majority of voters, with just 43% of likely November voters in support and 51% opposed three weeks before ballots are mailed to voters. Proposition 43 makes it harder to fund critical, life-saving services like police and fire departments, fix and repair local roads, staff our local schools or backfill federal health care cuts.

Supervisor Ellenberg: "Prop. 43 doesn't require better oversight. It merely changes the math so opponents can lose the vote by a landslide and still win elections."

Link

Sacramento, CA — Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee to be California’s next Governor, announced today his “no” position on Proposition 43. "As we head into another fire season, communities are doing the work — clearing brush, staffing fire crews, building resilient neighborhoods,” said Sec. Xavier Becerra.

A broad slate of California’s civil and voting rights groups announced their opposition to Proposition 43, which would fundamentally rewrite the rules of our elections to benefit corporate interests 

Sacramento, CA — With only 56 days until the general election, The League of Women Voters of California, in addition to several California-based civil rights groups and organizations, are encouraging a “no” vote on Proposition 43. 

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, Proposition 13 passed with support from 65% of California voters. The last time I checked the math, that is not a two-thirds majority vote.

Link

Sometimes things that sound simple are not.  Let’s take Proposition 43. Buried in the list of ballot questions this November that could shape our tax code and California’s progress is an effort to strike a blow to the most fundamental democratic principle which guides our local governments’ decisions: majority rule.  

Link

GUEST OPINION - As I write this, the full fury of November 2026 midterms has not arrived, but I expect we’ll see an enormous amount of energy and money spend on Proposition 43 via “The Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Proposition 13.”  We must vote down this right-wing anti-tax scheme to reduce government services and limit the will of the electorate!

Link