Time to Vote: Bay Area Council Ballot Positions

With ballots starting to arrive in mailboxes in the coming weeks, the Bay Area Council announces our position on a wide range of state, regional and local initiatives, from a regional measure to sustain and improve transit to the so-called and badly misguided Billionaire’s Tax.

Bay Area

Measure RTM/Regional Transit Measure (Support): To sustain public transit, avoid drastic service reductions and require greater efficiency, increases sales tax in five counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara) to provide critical funding for key regional transit systems.

San Francisco

Prop A (Support): Makes a variety of updates, reforms and changes to the governance and administration of numerous San Francisco boards and commissions.

Prop B (Oppose): Authorizes creation of a public bank with no determined source of capital.

Prop C (Support): Increases contribution to city Housing Trust Fund in return for reduction in inclusionary housing mandates.

Prop D (Support): Imposes more rigorous requirements for qualifying measures for the ballot.

Prop E (Support): Rationalizes city procurement processes.

Prop F (Support): Gives mayor more control over city departments and commissions.

Prop H (Support): Authorizes parcel tax to avert drastic service cuts to MUNI railway operations.

Prop I (Oppose): Creates an unaccountable slush fund for homeless programs that would deprive other city services.

Prop J (Oppose): Makes changes to transfer tax assessments that could stifle real estate market.

Oakland

Measure EE (Support): Expands authority and power of the mayor, along with other governance reforms.

Menlo Park

Measure P (OPPOSE): Requires voter approval for various changes in the use and operation of downtown, city-owned parking lots, including for housing.

California

Prop 1 (Support): Authorizes issuance of $11.25 billion in bonds to fund Multifamily Housing Program, CalVet Home Loan Program, and youth housing.

Prop 2 (Support): Increases the state budget rainy day fund cap from 10% to 20% of general fund revenue, requires bigger deposits when tax revenues spike, and allows for paying down state debt.

Prop 37 (Support): Authorizes $25 billion in financing assistance bonds for first-time homebuyers to address persistent housing affordability crisis. 

Prop 38 (Support): Authorizes $8.4 billion in bonds for important immunology/immunotherapy research.

Prop 40 (Oppose): Imposes 5% tax on high-wealth individuals that would discourage new investment and jobs and hurt California’s economic competitiveness.

Prop 41 (Support): Requires detailed audits of programs funded by new state special taxes and bars new state taxes that dodge the existing voter-approved spending limit.

Prop 42 (Support): Prohibits enactment of new state taxes after Jan. 1, 2026 on wide range of personal wealth, savings and property and bars retroactive state taxes.

Prop 45 (Support): Reforms California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to put an end to decades of CEQA abuses that have made building housing and all forms of critical water, energy and transportation infrastructure more expensive and slower than almost anywhere in the nation.