Prop 43 Explained: California Voters Decide Whether Citizen-Initiated Local Taxes Need a Two-Thirds Vote
Proposition 43, trending in searches on election eve, would require local special taxes placed on the ballot by citizen initiative to win a two-thirds vote from January 1, 2027 — the same threshold that already applies when a city council or county board proposes one.
Proposition 43 is a legislative constitutional amendment, placed on Tuesday's ballot by the Legislature as Assembly Constitutional Amendment 22, and its official ballot title is “Limits Voters' Ability to Raise Revenues for Local Government Services,” according to the Hoover Institution's Proposition Lab summary of the measure. A yes vote means that, beginning January 1, 2027, a new, increased or extended local special tax proposed by voters through the initiative power would need a two-thirds vote to pass, and local governments and their voters could not impose ad valorem property taxes beyond the limits already in the state constitution. A no vote means certain local special taxes could continue to be approved by a simple majority when placed on the ballot by citizen initiative.
The measure grows out of Proposition 13, which has required a two-thirds vote for special taxes proposed by cities, counties and districts, and out of the California Supreme Court's 2017 Upland decision, which created a distinction between taxes proposed by a governing body and taxes proposed under the initiative power. The Legislature placed Proposition 43 on the ballot on June 25, 2026, as a compromise, and in exchange the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association withdrew its already-qualified, broader citizen initiative. The amendment itself needs only a simple majority statewide to pass.
For Los Angeles voters, the compromise shape matters: the narrower measure that reached the ballot does not disturb taxes voters have already approved, including the components of the withdrawn initiative that would have ended existing local taxes such as Los Angeles's Measure ULA transfer tax. What it changes is the road ahead — any future citizen-initiated local special tax in Los Angeles or anywhere in California would face the two-thirds bar. Los Angeles County vote centers are open Monday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
