California
Prop 41Prohibits New State Taxes That Exclude Revenues from State Spending Limit. Requires Audits for New State Special Taxes
What your vote does
A NO vote means
Some new state tax spending could still be left out of the spending limit. No new audits of special-tax programs would be required. 3
Both ovals are empty on purpose. The choice is yours.
Prohibits New State Taxes That Exclude Revenues from State Spending Limit. Requires Audits for New State Special Taxes. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Nullifies state taxes enacted after January 1, 2026 that exempt their revenues from voter-approved state spending limit. Requires pre-election and recurring audits of programs funded by new special taxes. Fiscal Impact: The net fiscal effect is unknown as it depends on future decisions by voters, the Legislature, and other policymakers. Supporters: CA Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPAs); CalAsian Chamber of Commerce; California Taxpayers Association (CalTax) Opponents: US Senator Bernie Sanders; SEIU United Healthcare Workers West
This is the exact wording from the official voter guide.
If it fails
Nothing changes if it fails
If Prop 41 fails, current rules stay: no new State Auditor reviews, and the state can still exclude some spending, such as for infrastructure, from the spending limit. The Legislative Analyst (LAO) says courts could find a conflict and stop Prop 40 if Prop 41 gets more yes votes. 3
Why it’s on the ballot now
Voters approved a state spending limit in 1979. It caps how much tax money the state can spend each year, but some spending, like for infrastructure, is left out. 23
A special tax is a tax whose money goes to one purpose or program. State taxes can be raised by the Legislature or by voters. 3
The measure's own findings, which argue for it, say "special interests" have passed new taxes that "exempted themselves from the state spending limit." 5
Prop 40, also on this ballot, would put a one-time tax on the net worth, not the income, of billionaires. 537
The money
The Legislative Analyst (LAO) calls the net effect unknown. Audit costs would likely be low millions of dollars a year, then rise. Savings are possible if policymakers implement the Auditor's recommendations and those recommendations prove effective. See the money chart for the latest filed totals. 3
- Amount
- Unknown net effect; audit costs likely low millions a year
- How long
- Ongoing; program audits every four years
- Who pays
- Audit costs for special taxes that are approved would be paid from those taxes. One-time audit costs for special taxes that never reach the ballot or are rejected would be paid from the General Fund, which pays for most public services. Printing audit summaries in the voter guide could cost a few hundred thousand dollars per qualified initiative. 3
Who bears the cost
State government
What they already pay
- The State Auditor, an independent office, already reviews how state and local governments follow the law and use money. 3
If it passes
- The LAO says State Auditor costs would likely be in the low millions of dollars a year and would grow over time. Special tax revenue would pay for audits of taxes that pass. The General Fund would pay for audits of taxes that never reach the ballot or lose. 3
- The LAO says audit summaries in the Voter Information Guide would raise state printing and mailing costs by a few hundred thousand dollars per qualified initiative. It says the net effect of Prop 41 is not known. 3
Who’s behind it
How it got on the ballot: Citizen petition
The ballot label calls it an "Initiative Constitutional Amendment." The legal text says this initiative measure "is submitted to the people" under Section 8 of Article II of the California Constitution. 15
Where the support comes from
Placed by who endorsed it and who funded it, not by our opinion. How we place measures
The California Republican Party and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a taxpayer group, recommend Yes on Prop 41, while the California Democratic Party recommends No. GrowSF, an advocacy group, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, a business group, also support it. SPUR and the League of Women Voters of California, both good-government groups, oppose it. The largest donor to the committee supporting Prop 41 is Building A Better California, and the largest donor to committees opposing it is SEIU United Healthcare Workers West. 1213118910141516
Endorsements
| Group | YES | NO | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive slate | |||
| San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters | No | ||
| Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club | No | ||
| Moderate slate | |||
| GrowSF | Yes | ||
| San Francisco Chamber of Commerce | Yes | ||
| Political parties | |||
| San Francisco Democratic Party | No | ||
| San Francisco Green Party | No | ||
| California Democratic Party | No | ||
| California Republican Party | Yes | ||
| Other groups | |||
| SPUR | No | ||
| San Francisco Women's Political Committee | No | ||
| Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club | No | ||
| Edwin M. Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club | No | ||
| Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association | Yes | ||
| League of Women Voters of California | No | ||
Follow the money
YESTop donors
One donor gave more than half of this side’s money.
- Building A Better California$58.4M
Who is this?
Advocacy group with a political committee, set up in 2026 by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Its website says it is a nonpartisan group. 12
Their stake
InfluenceWatch reports the group was listed as a sponsor of Californians For A More Transparent And Effective Government. That committee worked to put Prop 41, the Improving Transparency, Effectiveness, and Efficiency in California Government Act of 2026, on the ballot. 31
From public records, not their own explanation.
- Reform California With Carl De Maio - Ballot Measure Committee$21.8K
- Reform Local Government PAC$4,500
- Mary Strong$100
- The top 5 donors gave 100% of this side’s money.
- 0% came from outside California.
- Independent spending (not controlled by the campaign): $182.9K
Committees: Yes on 41 - Californians for Transparency and Accountability, a Coaltion of Small Businessess, Taxpayers, Good Government Advocates, Accountants and Auditing Experts
NOTop donors
One donor gave more than half of this side’s money.
- SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (committees combined)$20.6M
Who is this?
Statewide local union of the Service Employees International Union in California. It had about 97,000 members in 2020. 1
What they’ve said
- Million More Voters, Sponsored by the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO$500K
- Alan Davis$316.2K
- United Domestic Workers of America Issues PAC$250K
Who is this?
- PACE of California School Employees Association - Issues$150K
Who is this?
PACE of CSEA – Issues is one of three committees for which the California School Employees Association is a primary funder. The union represents school staff who are not teachers, such as bus drivers and custodians. 1
- Saikat Chakrabarti$130.3K
Who is this?
Former Stripe engineer and former congressional candidate. Chakrabarti co-founded Justice Democrats, a PAC that works to elect progressive members of Congress. 1
- Ross Boucher$129.6K
- California Labor Federation AFL-CIO$129.6K
Who is this?
The federation's website says it represents over 1,300 unions in California. It says they have over 2.3 million union members in fields such as trucking, retail, construction and health care. 1
- California Federation of Teachers COPE PROP/
BALLOT Committee$100K - Hillary Perkins$64.8K
- The top 5 donors gave 96% of this side’s money.
- 1% came from outside California.
- Independent spending (not controlled by the campaign): $25.6K
Committees: Tax the Ultra-Rich Now, Yes on 3 & 40, No on 41 & 42; Working Families Say No to Propositions 41 and 42 Sponsored by Labor Unions; Yes on 40 - Billionaire Tax Now - No on 41 & 42, Sponsored by Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West
- YES side independent expenditures (Form 496) of $182,947, mostly by: Reform California with Carl DeMaio - Ballot Measure Committee $129,442; Ron Burkle $50,000; REPUBLICAN PARTY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY $3,505. Separate from total_raised.
- Yes on 40 - Billionaire Tax Now - No on 41 & 42, Sponsored by Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West (FPPC 1484470) supports or opposes several measures; the Secretary of State attributes $21,249,723 of its $32,783,342 to this one. Donor amounts here are scaled by that same share (65%).
- NO side: $7,292 given by one committee on this side to another was counted once.
- NO side independent expenditures (Form 496) of $25,552, mostly by: ACLU California Action Issues Committee $8,989; Million Voter Project Action Fund, Sponsored by Social Justice Organizations $5,299; ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties $5,206. Separate from total_raised.
- Committee totals are the Secretary of State's per-measure 'Total Reported Contributions' through 2026-10-22 (secretary of state page), plus later 24-hour reports from the Cal-Access bulk export built 2026-10-28. Donors, geography and independent expenditures come from the itemized Cal-Access filings. Contributions to committees that back several measures are credited pro rata to the share the Secretary of State assigns to this measure.
- Source cutoff: the Cal-Access export used was built 2026-10-27 (UTC) and the Secretary of State's per-measure totals run through 2026-10-22. as_of is the latest filing from this measure's own committees, which can be earlier.
- Money given to a committee by another committee is shown as that committee, not the money's original source (e.g. a union's issues PAC, not its members). Donor type is inferred from the name; check the filing for sponsors.
Sources: CA Secretary of State: Proposition 41 contribution totals · Cal-Access raw campaign finance data export · FPPC Top 10 Contributors, November 2026 General Election
Related and competing measures
Conflicts with Prop 40
Prop 41 would cancel state taxes enacted after January 1, 2026 whose money is exempt from the state spending limit. Prop 40 exempts its tax money from that limit. Prop 41 says a measure on the same ballot with such a tax conflicts with it and is void if Prop 41 gets more yes votes. The LAO says that if Prop 41 gets more yes votes than Prop 40, courts could find the two conflict. Then Prop 40 could be stopped from becoming law, even if most voters vote yes on it. 31625
If two conflicting measures both pass, the one with more YES votes takes effect.
The strongest case for and against
Each side’s best argument, written as its supporters would make it. Neither is our view.
Strongest case for
Supporters include the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, the CalAsian Chamber of Commerce and the California Taxpayers Association. They say Californians pay some of the highest taxes in the country. They argue billions of tax dollars have gone to programs like homelessness efforts with too little to show for it. Supporters say voters deserve independent facts about a program before they vote on a new tax for it. They say audit findings would be posted publicly and printed in the voter guide. Supporters say the audits must "identify areas of waste, fraud and abuse." They say Prop 41 does not raise taxes. They argue it makes all taxes follow the voter-approved spending limit. 14
Strongest case against
Opponents include US Senator Bernie Sanders and SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, which signed the official argument against. Opponents say Prop 41 is not really about audits. They argue it was designed to undo Prop 40, which they call the California Billionaire Tax. Opponents say billionaires funded Prop 41 so they can keep avoiding taxes. They call Prop 40 a modest, one-time tax on extreme wealth. Opponents argue that tax is needed to replace federal cuts and keep funding health care, public education and food assistance. They say Prop 41 would also cost the state time and money. 41
Sources
Every fact on this page links to one of these sources.
- Ballot label: title (table of contents) and summary (Quick Reference Guide), Proposition 41 (en edition), CA Official Voter Information Guide, Nov 3, 2026, p. 3, 9
- Proposition 41: Official Title and Summary (prepared by the Attorney General), CA Official Voter Information Guide, Nov 3, 2026, p. 1
- Proposition 41: Analysis by the Legislative Analyst, CA Official Voter Information Guide, Nov 3, 2026, p. 1-2
- Proposition 41: Arguments and rebuttals, CA Official Voter Information Guide, Nov 3, 2026, p. 3-4
- Proposition 41: Text of Proposed Law, CA Official Voter Information Guide, Nov 3, 2026, p. 1-4
- Ballot label: title (table of contents) and summary (Quick Reference Guide), Proposition 40 (en edition), CA Official Voter Information Guide, Nov 3, 2026, p. 3, 9
- Proposition 40: Analysis by the Legislative Analyst, CA Official Voter Information Guide, Nov 3, 2026, p. 1-2
- GrowSF: recommendations for the November 3, 2026 election
- San Francisco Chamber of Commerce: recommendations for the November 3, 2026 election
- SPUR: recommendations for the November 3, 2026 election
- California Democratic Party: recommendations for the November 3, 2026 election
- California Republican Party: recommendations for the November 3, 2026 election
- Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association: recommendations for the November 3, 2026 election
- League of Women Voters of California: recommendations for the November 3, 2026 election
- How endorsers line up on Prop 41: this guide's coalition groupings (endorsement method 1.0, data as of 2026-10-27)
- Campaign finance filings as of 2026-10-26 (compiled by this guide from CA Secretary of State: Proposition 41 contribution totals; data/money/ca-2026-11-p41.json, main@0dcbec8)