California voters are being asked to prohibit new personal property taxes and some retroactive taxes — really, a foil to the billionaire tax also on the ballot.
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If approved by voters, , the Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act. prohibit taxes enacted after Jan. 1, 2026, from being imposed on retirement holdings, individually owned assets and other forms of personal savings.
That essentially voids the billionaire tax on this year’s ballot, Proposition 40, since it would apply retroactively.
If both were to pass, whichever measure garnered the most votes would beat the other.
Proposition 42 is sponsored by Building a Better California, a non-profit advocacy group focused on California’s affordability crisis.
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The group said the state’s high cost of living and existing tax rates make it difficult for people to save money. It argued that politicians need to manage public resources responsibly “without imposing new taxes on our retirement savings.”
Individual supporters of the initiative include Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google; Stripe CEO Patrick Collison and Affirm CEO Max Levchin, to name a few.
The constitutional amendment for taxes enacted by the legislature if the governor declares an emergency as a result of a national disaster, civil disorder “or actual or imminent attack by a foreign enemy,” or if the governor declares a fiscal emergency.
In either instance, revenues from the tax enacted by the legislature would have to be “expressly ” for the emergency declared by the governor.
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