California voters should know what Proposition 41 is about. Here is the truth | Opinion

Proposition 41 is a constitutional amendment billed as a way to add transparency and accountability to ballot measures for special taxes.

Voters should beware. Prop. 41 is supported by Building a Better California, which is funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and other CEOs and entrepreneurs. These people have created Prop. 41 and Proposition 42 to confuse voters. Why? They want to undermine Proposition 40, the so-called “billionaire tax” also on your ballot.

Perhaps the most controversial measure on your ballot, Prop. 40 would levy a one-time 5% wealth tax on California residents with more than $1 billion in total assets.

How could Prop. 41 invalidate Prop. 40? As The Bee wrote last week, “One of the most important provisions of Prop. 41 would ban taxes on or after Jan. 1, 2026, that are exempt from state spending limits.” That’s important because Prop. 40, as it is written is exempt from state spending limits.

So if Prop. 41 gets more “Yes” votes than a competing measure such as Prop. 40, the provisions of Prop. 41 would prevail over the provisions of Prop. 40, according to the California Constitution. We don’t believe enough voters understand this because while Prop. 40 has garnered a great deal of attention and debate, Prop. 41 has not.

This is why the collective editorial boards of The Sacramento Bee, Modesto Bee, Merced Sun-Star, Fresno Bee and San Luis Obispo Tribune urges a “No” vote on Prop. 41. What’s insidious Prop. 41 is that it is presented as a good governance measure when it’s really about defeating Prop. 40. A majority of our board supported Prop. 40, but it wasn’t unanimous. We understand that it’s controversial to tax California’s most wealthy residents.

But as we wrote in our endorsement, “Billionaires have every right to fight a tax that could cost them billions. But voters should recognize the enormous political power that such wealth can buy and ask why so much of that power has been exercised through campaign committees rather than direct public engagement.”

Included in that power is the use of the initiative process to confuse voters with measures competing with Prop. 40. Voters should know that Prop. 41 has a specific target and is funded and supported by wealthy people with a financial stake in defeating Prop. 40.

We hope Californians vote “No” on Prop. 41.

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This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California voters should know what Proposition 41 is about. Here is the truth | Opinion."