District elections: initiatives.

Senator Pérez, with Assembly Member Bennett as a coauthor, introduces a measure that would permit districts with authority to impose transportation-related transactions and use taxes to adopt such a tax through a voter initiative, subject to the district’s existing rate ceiling and to the same spending and accountability standards that apply to taxes enacted by the district’s governing body. The core change is the creation of an initiative pathway for transportation funding at the local level, anchored to the district’s statutory maximum rate for such taxes.

The measure amends the Elections Code to authorize eligible voters in districts with transportation tax authority to impose a retail T&U tax by initiative. The initiative tax may not exceed the district’s maximum authorized rate for a transportation tax imposed by its governing body. The initiative measure must include all spending limitations and substantive accountability standards applicable to a tax imposed by an ordinance, including a transportation expenditure plan that specifies the purposes for which revenue will be used; however, the bill does not require local agency approval of the plan. The authors interpret the provision as declaratory of the existing power of local voters to enact taxes via initiative under the state constitution.

Fiscal and implementation considerations described in the measure include the possibility that duties imposed on county elections officials could create a state-mandated local program, with reimbursement processes defined by existing mandate provisions if applicable. The bill frames its intent as aligning with the voters’ initiative power under the constitutional framework, rather than establishing a novel governance mechanism. The bill’s progress through the 2025–2026 regular session culminated in enrollment in September 2025 after passing the Assembly in early September and the Senate earlier that month.