California voters should reject Proposition 43.

Prop 43 would make it substantially harder for citizens to fund the transportation projects and services their communities need. It would change the threshold for citizen-initiated local special tax measures from a simple majority to two-thirds. That is unacceptable.

Across California, voters have used citizen initiatives to fund transit when elected officials have been unwilling or unable to act. Measures like Connect Bay Area, current transit measures in San Francisco and Fresno, and the recently approved Sonoma-Marin transit measure are examples of communities taking transportation funding directly to voters.

Under Prop 43, these measures would face a 66.67% supermajority requirement instead of 50% + 1. That would give a minority of voters the power to block locally supported investments in transit and other essential services. Communities should be able to decide how to fund the transportation systems they need. If a majority of voters support a locally proposed transit tax, a minority should not be able to veto it.

California already has significant voter protections around local taxes. We should not make it even harder for communities to invest in transit, safer streets, and other public services. Local voters should have the power to decide how to fund their communities.

No on Proposition 43