A single California proposition could impose a first-of-its-kind 5% levy on billionaire wealth, including stakes in companies, making it among the most consequential of 145 statewide measures Americans face this election cycle.
Prop. 40 has split unusual coalitions, with proponents arguing the Republican-controlled Congress handed billionaires tax breaks by slashing healthcare funding, while some prominent Democrats have joined opponents warning the tax would simply push wealthy residents to other states.
Two competing measures on the same California ballot would nullify the wealth tax entirely if passed, setting up a three-way fiscal showdown that will be closely watched by policymakers nationwide.
Taxes and state finances constitute the largest single category among the 145 measures tracked by Ballotpedia, with states pulling in opposite directions on property levies, income taxes, and legislative spending thresholds.
Florida voters are weighing a proposal to exempt the first $150,000 of a home’s assessed value from property taxation, a move that carries enormous consequences for local governments that rely heavily on that revenue stream.
Iowa’s General Assembly has asked voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would force certain tax changes to clear a two-thirds supermajority in both legislative chambers, a significant procedural hurdle designed to slow future tax increases.
A Colorado progressive coalition is separately pushing for higher income taxes on residents earning more than $500,000 annually, while Tennessee’s legislature has asked its voters to constitutionally prohibit state-mandated property taxes altogether.
On reproductive rights, four states have abortion squarely on the ballot, a continuing wave of direct democracy triggered by the 2022 Dobbs ruling that erased federal protections established under Roe v. Wade.
Idaho voters could strike down the state’s near-total abortion ban, while Nevada and Virginia residents can vote to enshrine existing abortion access into their state constitutions, making it harder for future legislatures to reverse those rights.
Missouri presents the most unusual construction: its Republican-led legislature combined a near-total abortion prohibition and a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors into a single ballot question, just two years after Missouri voters had themselves struck down what had been one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws.
Campaign advertising for the Missouri measure has focused predominantly on the gender-affirming care component, which would embed restrictions already in state law directly into the state constitution.
Washington state’s transgender sports proposal goes further than most, requiring that a student’s biological sex be verified by a healthcare provider based on, “the student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.”
Arizona is expanding an existing ban on transgender athletes in girls sports to also cover locker rooms and other facilities, while Vermont is moving in the opposite direction, considering a constitutional equal protection clause explicitly covering gender identity and expression.
In Virginia, voters face two distinct social questions: whether to strengthen same-sex marriage protections by replacing an unenforceable constitutional ban with language defining marriage as between any two adults regardless of race, sex, or gender, and whether to restore voting rights automatically to people convicted of felonies rather than requiring gubernatorial action.
The rules governing democracy itself are also on the ballot in multiple states, with North Dakota and South Dakota both proposing that future constitutional amendments require 60% voter approval rather than a simple majority, a threshold that would make citizen-driven ballot initiatives significantly harder to pass.
Missouri, by contrast, is weighing a measure that would make it more difficult for the legislature to undo voter-approved initiatives, alongside a separate redistricting question that analysts say could position Republicans to flip a Democrat-held U.S. House seat in 2028.
Montana is attempting a state-level workaround of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision by redefining corporations in a way that would cap unlimited political donations, though legal experts note the measure could face court challenges.
Colorado is also considering a requirement that all future ballot questions be drafted in plain English at an eighth-grade reading level, a nod to longstanding criticism that initiative language is too complex for most voters to parse.
