California voters decided on only one proposition on the March primary ballot — narrowly approving Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health measure, Proposition 1.
On November 5, voters will determine the fate of 10 propositions — including whether to borrow a combined $20 billion for climate programs and school construction, whether to approve three amendments to the state constitution and what direction to take on crime, health care and taxes.
The 2024 ballot is still more crowded than in 2022, when there were only seven measures, the fewest in more than a century.
This week we continue to present breakdowns of each proposition on this election ballot, so you can make informed choices when you cast your vote.
Proposition 5: Lower voter approval requirements for local housing and infrastructure
What would it do?
California makes it difficult for local governments to borrow money. Not only do most city and county bonds require voter approval, they need the support of at least two-thirds of those voting to pass.
Proposition 5 would amend the California constitution by lowering the required threshold to 55% for any borrowing to fund affordable housing construction, down payment assistance programs and a host of “public infrastructure” projects, including those for water management, local hospitals and police stations, broadband networks and parks.
If it passes, the new cut-off would apply not just to future bonds, but any that are on the ballot this November.
Why is it on the ballot?
Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a Democrat from Winters, has been trying and failing to get some version of this on the ballot since 2017. After a helpful promotion to Assembly majority leader, she finally got her way this year.
The Legislature voted to put Prop. 5 on the ballot last fall. But after a bit of political wrangling this spring, lawmakers passed a second measure to make a few last-minute changes. Though an earlier version applied to certain tax hikes, the proposition now only covers bonds. It also now includes a ban on local governments using the money to buy up existing single-family homes to convert them into affordable units. That change was required to persuade the powerful California Association of Realtors not to oppose the measure (though it gave money to the opposition campaign before then).
Proposition 6: Limit forced labor in state prisons
What would it do?
Proposition 6 would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from punishing inmates with involuntary work assignments and from disciplining those who refuse to work. Instead, state prisons could set up a volunteer work assignment program to take time off sentences in the form of credits. It would let county or city ordinances set up a pay scale for inmates in local jails.
The measure’s potential costs remain unknown and a point of contention, though a related law says compensation would be set by the state corrections department.
Why is it on the ballot?
California wasn’t a slave state, but it does have a history of forced labor. Lawmakers created a reparations task force and directed it to address historical inequities that harmed Black residents. The task force recommended changing the state constitution to prohibit any form of enslavement as one of 14 key priorities this session.
Legislators considered a similar measure in 2022, but support tanked after the California Department of Finance estimated that it would cost about $1.5 billion annually to pay minimum wage to prisoners. This year’s amendment has the voluntary work program as a way to get around that issue.
Of about 90,000 inmates, the state’s prison system employs nearly 40,000 who complete a variety of tasks such as construction, yard work, cooking, cleaning and firefighting. Most of them earn less than 74 cents an hour, although inmate firefighters can earn as much as $10 a day. California’s minimum wage is $16 an hour, and state law permits the corrections department to pay up to half of that rate.
Proposition 32: Raise state minimum wage to $18 an hour
What would it do?
Proposition 32 would raise the minimum wage to $17 for the remainder of 2024, and $18 an hour starting in January 2025 — a bump from the current $16. Small businesses with 25 or fewer employees would be required to start paying at least $17 next year, and $18 in 2026. If voters say “yes,” California will have the nation’s highest state minimum wage.
Starting in 2027, the wage would be adjusted based on inflation, as the state already does. The hike would apply statewide, but it would have a bigger effect in some areas than in others. Nearly 40 California cities have local minimum wages that are higher than the state’s, including six that already require at least $18 and several already are just a small inflationary adjustment away from it.
Why is it on the ballot?
In 2022, California became the first state to reach a $15 minimum wage — a figure long fought for by unions and restaurant workers. But labor activists say the state’s sky-high cost of living has already made that standard barely livable. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, even in the cheapest California county (Modoc), a single adult with no children would need to make at least $20.32 an hour to comfortably afford the basics. The statewide average? $27.32.
Wealthy startup-investor-turned-anti-poverty-advocate Joe Sanberg first pushed an $18 minimum wage three years ago, and poured $10 million into a signature-gathering effort to qualify the measure for the 2022 ballot. The measure included more gradual wage hikes starting in 2023. But the campaign missed a key deadline, pushing it to this year’s ballot. That means a quicker hike to $18 in January if voters approve the measure in November.
Prop. 33: Allow local governments to impose rent controls
What would it do?
Many cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, limit the amount a landlord can raise the rent each year — a policy known as rent control. But for nearly 30 years, California has imposed limits on those limits, via a law known as Costa-Hawkins. Cities cannot set rent control on single-family homes or apartments built after 1995. And landlords are free to set their own rental rates when new tenants move in.
If Proposition 33 passes, that would change. Cities would be allowed to control rents on any type of housing – including single-family homes and new apartments, and for new tenants.
Why is it on the ballot?
Nearly 30% of California renters spend more than half their income on rent — higher than in any other state except Florida and Louisiana, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
To change that, tenant advocates have been fighting Costa-Hawkins for years, but so far, without success. They tried to overturn it with ballot measures in 2018 and 2020. Lawmakers also tried with legislation. While those efforts failed, Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 signed a law limiting annual rent increases statewide to 5% plus inflation.
Supporters of Prop. 33 say that doesn’t go far enough. They hope this finally is the year to upend the decades-old rules controlling rent control. But landlord groups opposing the idea tend to have deep pockets, and have been willing to spend a small fortune to convince voters that rent control is not the answer to the state’s housing crisis.
The 2024 Voter Guide is a team effort, made possible by the following reporters: Ben Christopher, Nigel Duara, Wendy Fry, Kristen Hwang, Carolyn Jones, Sameea Kamal, Marisa Kendall, Alexei Koseff, Jeanne Kuang, Alejandro Lazo, Shaanth Nanguneri, Jenna Peterson, Yue Stella Yu
