December 11, 2025 - Sacramento, Calif. – California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., has announced that the proponents of a new initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures on December 9, 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:

LIMITS AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT VICTIMS' RECOVERY OF MEDICAL EXPENSES AND FEES THEIR ATTORNEYS MAY RECEIVE. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Automobile accident victims often hire an attorney on a contingency basis, meaning the attorney receives an agreed-upon percentage of the victim’s monetary recovery if the victim wins. This measure would: 

• - limit the fees such attorneys may receive so victims retain at least 75% of their monetary recovery, but does not restrict fee arrangements for defendants’ attorneys;
• - for certain medical expenses, increase victims’ burden of proof and limit the amounts they may recover; and
• - prohibit certain financial arrangements between attorneys and medical providers.

Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Likely net savings to the state trial courts ranging from the millions of dollars to the tens of millions of dollars annually. These effects would depend on the overall reduction in motor vehicle accident cases being filed as well as the degree to which remaining cases would take longer to resolve. Increased state Medi-Cal costs that could range from the millions to tens of millions of dollars annually due to various factors, including a reduction in compensation for some motor vehicle accidents used to offset Medi-Cal costs. (25-0022A1.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1999 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 25-0022A1.

The proponents of the measure, John Moffatt and Kurt R. Oneto, must collect signatures of 874,641 registered voters (eight 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 proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than June 8, 2026. The address for the proponents is c/o Kurt R. Oneto, Nielsen Merksamer LLP, 1415 L Street, Suite 1200, Sacramento, CA 95814. The proponents may also be contacted at (916) 446-6752 and koneto@nmgovlaw.com.

Source: CA. SoS