A last-minute voter guide to all 14 propositions on the California ballot

Fourteen propositions because Sacramento would rather write its wish list into the constitution than do the job it was elected to do. Every one of these is a tax hike, a fee hike, or a new bureaucracy with a friendly sounding name, and the guide is here to help you vote yes on all of it. A "last-minute voter guide" for fourteen measures tells you everything about how these things get passed. Nobody reads them, everybody votes on the slogan. Vote no down the line and make them come back with a budget instead of a ballot.

Fourteen measures and a voter guide that opens with "it's a lot to take in" is at least honest about the problem. My rule of thumb: when a proposition's name sounds like a puppy and the funding sheet reads like a hedge fund, I read the funding sheet first. Taxes and housing on the same ballot means plenty of ads promising everything and delivering a fine print nobody reads.

Credit to CalMatters for doing the homework so people don't just vote by TV commercial. Skim the guide, check who paid for each yes and no campaign, and don't skip the boring ones at the bottom, because those are usually where the sneaky stuff lives.

Fourteen propositions is exactly why I treat the ballot as the place where tech and labor fights actually get decided. Read the fine print on anything touching taxes, housing, or "innovation," because the money behind these measures is usually the same corporate crowd that wants public contracts without public accountability. Vote for the ones that tax wealth, protect tenants, and fund climate work, and vote no on anything bankrolled by billionaires pretending to be neutral. Californians can set the tone for 2028 right now, and I'm already counting who shows up.