Proposition 41

Prohibits New State Taxes That Exclude Revenues from State Spending Limit. Requires Audits for New State Special Taxes. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

Fiscal Impact

Net effect unknown in the LAO estimate

Short Term

State spends

State raises

LAO gives no net estimate.

Long Term

State spends

State raises

LAO gives no net estimate — audit costs (low millions a year) are paid out of the new taxes themselves, and the audits could also save money.

Social Impact

The measure prohibits any new state taxes that exclude their revenues from the state spending limit approved by voters in 1979.
For voter-proposed special taxes, the State Auditor must audit the programs that would receive funding before the election and re-audit funded programs every four years.
Supporters say public audits will track program spending, identify waste, fraud, and abuse, and show whether funded programs are achieving their intended outcomes.
Opponents say the measure was designed to cancel out Proposition 40, the one-time billionaire tax, by making that tax unenforceable.

A YES vote means:

For a special tax proposed by voters, the State Auditor reviews the programs it would fund before the election, and reviews programs funded by special taxes created since January 2026 again every four years.

A NO vote means:

The State Auditor's duties do not change, and the state spending-limit rules stay as they are.

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Cost (Legislative Analyst): The net fiscal effect is unknown as it depends on future decisions by voters, the Legislature, and other policymakers.

How these interact: Propositions 41 and 42 each say that if they pass with more YES votes than a conflicting measure on this same ballot, the conflicting measure does not take effect. Proposition 40 is a measure on this ballot that those rules could reach.

Source: CA Secretary of State, Official Voter Information Guide