December 3, 2025 - Sacramento, Calif. – California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., announced that the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures on December 1, 2025.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent(s) and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides a calendar of deadlines to the proponent(s) and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

RESTRICTS POLITICAL SPENDING BY HEALTH CARE UNIONS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Prohibits certain large health care unions from political spending over specified amounts regarding state or local ballot measures without following certain member consent requirements. Requires these unions to provide members annual notice describing prior-year political spending. Requirements apply only to unions, not employers. Imposes monetary penalties on unions as follows: (1) for violations of member consent requirements, the amount spent in violation of the requirements; and (2) for violations of member notice requirements, $1,000 per member (e.g., a $50,000,000 penalty if union does not provide notice to 50,000 members). Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Increased annual state costs, potentially in the range of millions of dollars, with some costs paid for by penalties created by the measure. (25-0021A1.) 

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1998 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 25-0021A1.

The proponent of the measure, Carmela Coyle, must collect signatures of 546,651 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2022 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than June 1, 2026. The proponent may be contacted at dsimon@calhospital.org.

Source: CA. SoS