What will you vote on in November? Ballot measures take shape at deadline

Which pricey ballot measures will dominate your algorithms and streaming ad breaks this fall?

The one that would tax billionaires to prop up healthcare services?

How about the one Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to again boost affordable housing? 

Or the one where Uber was ready to go to war with trial attorneys?

As CalMatters reporters explain, the deadline for initiatives to qualify is Thursday and negotiations are occurring behind closed doors as powerful interest groups work to strike last-minute deals that could spare them from having to shell out tens of millions of dollars on campaigns this fall. 

Proposals that are eligible so far include the Republican-backed voter identification requirement and a billionaire tax championed by a major healthcare workers union. 

Another initiative related to affordable housing is also poised to land on the ballot after Newsom and the Legislature reached a deal on a record-breaking $11.25 billion bond measure. 

The bond would provide $10 billion to finance the construction, acquisition and preservation of affordable housing, while another $1.25 billion would help veterans buy homes. 

The money could help more than 40,000 people buy a home, as well as create or preserve tens of thousands of affordable housing units, according to the Newsom administration. The Legislature still needs to pass the bill to put the bond proposal on the ballot, after which the governor is expected to sign it.

Meanwhile, Uber and personal injury lawyers avoided an expensive showdown between one another after both parties negotiated a deal that took their dueling measures off the table.

Since last fall, the ride-hailing service had poured millions into a proposed ballot measure that would have capped personal injury lawyers’ contingency fees and limit how much victims could recover for medical costs for all crashes in California — not just the ones involving Uber.

Attorney groups, as well as doctors and medical providers, fiercely opposed Uber’s proposal, initially responding with their own initiative to increase Uber’s liability for sexual misconduct against riders and drivers.

But both sides appear to have settled their dispute through a bill that would cap medical cost recoveries in cases that involve medical liens, but would not cap lawyers’ contingency fees. Uber, for its part, would have to strengthen background checks for drivers, including deplatforming drivers who have been convicted of certain violent offenses or were found guilty of driving under the influence.

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California is suing the Trump administration once again to protect the state’s power to set its own air pollution standards.

The latest lawsuit centers on four waivers that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had granted California during the Obama and Biden administrations, which enabled the state to enforce its own vehicle and engine emission standards. For over 50 years California has been able to set its own stricter standards to combat air pollution because of carve-outs under the federal Clean Air Act. 

But earlier this month, the EPA reclassified these waivers as “rules” instead of “orders,” which makes them subject to a vote in Congress. Through this reclassification, President Donald Trump has “the hope that Congress will disapprove the waivers and stymie our climate and clean air progress,” said Bonta on Monday.

• Bonta: “Trump and his EPA overreach is illogical, politically motivated and illegal. This is nothing more than Trump’s latest effort to circumvent the law, to punish California for defying his plans to drag us backward.”

California is suing the administration — its 72nd lawsuit under Trump’s second term — arguing that the EPA does not have the authority to reclassify these waivers. In a separate but related case, the state has another ongoing lawsuit against the administration after it reclassified, and then later revoked in June 2025 with congressional approval, three waivers that set clean-air rules for cars and trucks in California.

From CalMatters K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones: 

Alberto Carvalho, who won widespread praise for helping shepherd Los Angeles Unified out of the COVID-19 pandemic, resigned as the district’s superintendent Sunday amid an FBI probe apparently linked to a failed artificial intelligence chatbot contract that he promoted.

The Los Angeles Times first reported on the resignation. CalMatters reported on the chatbot debacle.

• Carvalho in an open letter: “Placing students first has always guided my work. Because I believe our schools must remain focused on students and learning without distraction, I am resigning as superintendent of LAUSD.”

As the Trump administration cracked down on immigration, Carvalho — himself a formerly undocumented immigrant — became an outspoken advocate for immigrant students’ right to attend school. 

Among other things, the district set up a 24-hour hotline and workshops addressing immigrants’ legal rights; offered free legal assistance through local nonprofits; and established a virtual academy for students who’re afraid to leave the house due to the risk of deportation.

The FBI raided Carvalho’s home and office in February, just after the district renewed his contract. He had been on leave since then. The acting superintendent, Andrés Chait, will remain in the job until the board picks Carvalho’s successor.

Read more.

In the past three years, California’s prison system has distributed 30,000 laptops to all incarcerated students, almost half of whom are enrolled in community college. But as more classes and coursework shift online, professors and incarcerated students consider whether remote classes are as effective as in-person courses. Read more from Ella Carter-Klauschie of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network.