14 propositions are on the California ballot. Voters are deciding on taxes, healthcare and more

In summary

California’s 14 s ballot measures include a billionaire tax, voter ID, changes to recall elections, and a bid to speed up building by limiting environmental reviews.

Voters are deciding the fate of 14 statewide propositions, including the contentious billionaire tax. The campaigns for and against these propositions have spent a total of nearly $1 billion — the most in history on state ballot measures. 

Beyond the billionaire tax, Californians are facing decisions on a wide range of topics, including how recall elections are conducted, speeding development by capping environmental reviews, and whether the state should put more money toward housing and medical research.

This story will be updated as election results come in.

Prop. 1: This measure would authorize the state to borrow up to $11.25 billion toward housing construction and renovations, mostly for rental units. Many developers and local governments that receive the money would have to reserve a portion of it for affordable housing for low-income renters or for specialized housing that serves the homeless. 

Prop. 2: Voters are deciding whether to allow the state to deposit more money into its reserves, otherwise known as the rainy day fund. California has a fairly volatile tax system that rises and falls with the incomes of its highest earners, but 1970s-era state rules limit how much money the state can save in surplus years.

Prop. 3: This income tax for high earners would send more money to K-12 education. First passed in 2012 as a temporary measure, this tax, which affects individuals making over $360,000 a year, would become permanent if voters approve Prop. 3. 

Prop. 4: This measure would allow the state and local governments to create public financing for political campaigns, which proponents say could help cap political spending. In order to accept public money for campaigns, candidates usually have to accept certain spending limits.

Prop. 5: California’s recall elections ask voters whether they want to oust the officeholder and who they want instead. This measure would make it so that recall elections only ask whether voters want to remove the elected official from office. A second election would determine who should replace the officeholder. 

Prop. 37: The state would create a new fund that gives out loans to middle-class homebuyers if Prop. 37 passes. Homebuyers who benefit from the fund would slowly pay back the state. 

Prop. 38: This measure would pump $8.4 billion in state funding to immunology research — with a catch: About half the money would go to one, three-person nonprofit organization, the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy. Gary K. Michelson, the institute’s co-founder, put this proposition on the ballot.

Prop. 39: This ballot proposition would increase identification requirements for California voters. This campaign, funded in large part by Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein, would require state voters to provide proof of citizenship at the polls or write their Social Security number or other government-issued ID number on mail-in ballots. 

Prop. 40: The contentious billionaire tax would enact a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ net worth. The healthcare workers union that put the measure on the ballot says it would raise roughly $100 billion over five years and help struggling healthcare programs. Opponents point out that billionaires pay a large share of state taxes already and worry it could cause them to flee the state.

Prop. 41: Created by the opponents to the billionaire tax, this measure would invalidate Prop. 40 by creating stricter rules about new California taxes. If both Prop. 40 and Prop. 41 pass, whichever gets more votes will prevail.

Prop. 42: Also created by the opponents to the billionaire tax, Prop. 42 would make it harder for the state to levy a new tax on wealth, such as investment accounts or personal property, and effectively invalidate the billionaire tax. If voters approve both Prop. 40 and Prop. 42, the measure with the most votes will win. 

Prop. 43: This measure would make it harder for local citizen-driven tax measures to pass. These local tax measures only need a majority to win, but if Prop. 43 passes, they would need two-thirds of the vote. 

Prop. 44: Health clinics would need to spend at least 90% of their annual revenue on patient care if Prop. 44 passes. The measure is backed by the same union that proposed the billionaire tax, Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. 

Prop. 45: Voters will decide whether to pare down California’s landmark environmental review law, known as CEQA. The 1970 law requires agencies to consider environmental harm before building, but developers say the law is often a tool to delay much-needed affordable housing and infrastructure projects.