Our guide to California’s 2026 ballot initiatives
For the benefit of anyone seeking to demystify California’s 2026 ballot measure language, this ballot guide was prepared by the Atheists United advocacy committee and approved by the Atheists United board of directors on Wednesday, October 7th.
The following is our organization’s analysis and our opinions on each proposition.
✔️PROP 1 – SUPPORT
Prop 1 would borrow $11.25 billion to fund affordable housing.
It would provide aid to middle- and low-income individuals (including many of our members) who keep California’s economy running. This proposition ultimately offers a band-aid solution to a much bigger crisis that needs systemic solutions, but we support any efforts to make today’s housing crisis less painful.
✔️PROP 2 – SUPPORT
Prop 2 raises the ceiling on how much the state can invest in its rainy day fund each year.
California’s tax revenue is extremely volatile. We believe more flexibility in how the state uses excess revenues will make it more sustainable as it faces growing crises like forest fires or oil price surges caused by Trump’s war in Iran.
✔️PROP 3 – SUPPORT
Prop 3 makes income taxes on higher earners permanent to fund education and healthcare.
This proposed tax affects only the top 4% of earners in California but benefits public schools that serve 90% of youth. Although the tax increase is mild for those affected, it would provide much-needed support for school budgets.
While religious extremists attempt to destroy free, secular public education, our community believes we need to do everything in our power to protect it.
✔️PROP 4 – SUPPORT
Prop 4 allows public financing of political campaigns in California.
The religious right and its billionaire backers don’t want atheists and other religious minorities to have equal access to political power. Lifting the 1988 ban on public financing would give new political candidates (especially younger candidates, representing the least religious generation in American history) a fighting chance to build upstart campaigns that can challenge the religious and political status quo.
✔️PROP 5 – SUPPORT
Prop 5 would delay replacing recalled state officials.
The current electoral process leaves California at risk of electing candidates who otherwise couldn’t receive a majority of votes in a typical election cycle. The current system can easily be exploited by special interest groups (including billionaires and religious political movements) by manufacturing support for recall elections in the hopes their chosen candidate can sneak into office without winning a popular vote.
PROP 37 – NO POSITION
Prop 37 would authorize the California Housing Finance Agency to issue up to $25 billion in bonds to offer second mortgage loans to qualified buyers. The bonds would be repaid from borrowers' mortgage payments rather than the state budget.
Housing prices are one of the most important issues in California, and this initiative is likely to help some first-time home buyers access capital, but doesn’t fix the underlying economics that caused the housing crisis. Given the diversity of our members' opinions on capitalist vs socialist solutions to the crisis, we make no recommendation.
PROP 38 – NO POSITION
Prop 38 would create an $8.4 billion bond to fund research fighting cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s—but effectively restricts half of all proceeds to one UC-affiliated research institute, run by the billionaire who created this proposition.
The world desperately needs more public investment in scientific research, and this measure could make a measurable impact on scientific progress.
We believe public scientific funding should be radically expanded in California, but better pathways exist to make sure funding prioritization stays democratic. We make no recommendation.
❌PROP 39 – OPPOSE
Prop 39 would require identification for voting.
There exists no evidence of widespread voter fraud in California. There is, however, overwhelming evidence that this measure would disenfranchise many voters and waste taxpayer dollars on a problem that doesn’t exist. Atheists believe political decisions should be informed by evidence, and democracy is most successful when it’s as inclusive as possible.
✔️PROP 40 – SUPPORT
Prop 40 would apply a one-time tax to billionaires to fund healthcare and education across the state.
California is home to more billionaires than any other state, yet many pay almost nothing in taxes. This proposition offers an opportunity to raise $100 billion for education programs and Medi-Cal, which are facing extreme cuts since the White House implemented retaliatory funding cuts.
As atheists, we prefer systemic solutions to the billionaire tax problem, compared to one-time measures, but still support the proposition given the urgency of California’s budget crisis and billionaires’ runaway wealth hoarding.
❌PROP 41 – OPPOSE
Prop 41 would require audits of new tax programs, making it hard to pass new one-time tax initiatives like Prop 40.
This proposition is primarily designed to trick voters into unknowingly blocking a wealth tax on billionaires, and is overwhelmingly funded by billionaires. It includes a provision to nullify Prop 40 if it passes.
While we preference systemic long-term tax solutions to one-time taxes, Californians need every tool available to them when it comes to taxing billionaires.
❌PROP 42 – OPPOSE
Prop 42 would make it virtually impossible to create a wealth tax in California, protecting billionaires from paying their fair share in taxes. Proposition 42 was placed on the ballot by billionaires in response to Proposition 40, and would nullify Proposition 40 if it received more votes.
❌PROP 43 – OPPOSE
Prop 43 would make it substantially more difficult to pass new local taxes.
This proposition would increase the vote threshold from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority on special tax measures. This could have a crippling effect on local services that rely on ballot measures to raise funding.
Do you know how hard it is to get two-thirds of the state to agree on anything?
❌PROP 44 – OPPOSE
Prop 44 would burden community clinics that serve low-income patients by requiring them to spend 90% of their annual revenue on patient care.
While Atheists United typically supports initiatives to center patient care, there seems to be no strong evidence that this will cause more good than harm for already financially stressed low-income clinics (the proposition would not apply to large for-profit hospitals and clinics).
One study estimated community clinics could face up to $1.7 billion in noncompliance fees in the first year, forcing many clinics to significantly reduce services or close.
PROP 45 – NO POSITION
Prop 45 would speed up environmental reviews for housing and infrastructure projects by adding new restrictions to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)—the law requiring environmental concerns be considered during land development.
There are many documented cases of CEQA being weaponized by the wealthy to halt projects that would radically lower the environmental impact of Californians, such as public transit and high density housing.
While many religious traditions believe this planet is a temporary side quest before their eternal life in heaven, we recognize that our existence depends on a healthy ecosystem. That’s why atheists are often the strongest and loudest environmental advocates and are suspicious of any efforts to roll back environmental protections.
We support attempts to reform CEQA in pursuit of speeding up sustainable developments, but are unsure if this proposition would help or hinder that effort in the long term given its current language. We make no recommendation.