On April 22, more than 1.6 million signatures were submitted to county election officials to place a permanent extension to Proposition 55 on the November ballot. The signatures submitted far surpasses the ~875,000 required to qualify it for the ballot.

If passed, this extension, also known as the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act of 2026, will prevent billions in cuts to schools and health care by extending the existing tax on the wealthiest Californians.

Our members secured the vast majority of signatures by talking to each other at our worksites. More than 100 local chapters had more than 85% of members sign a petition.

A strong coalition of other unions joined our effort including California Federation of Teachers, California Service Employees Association, Service Employees International Union, California Professional Firefighters, and more. Together, we secured 1.6 million signatures. What Comes Next: Once signatures are validated, the initiative will be assigned a new proposition number and will be included on the November ballot.

Then it’s going to take all of us working together to get out the vote for public education. If we don’t extend Prop. 55 in November the wealthiest will get a tax break in 2030 while 1-in-6 educators would lose their jobs.

Our power as a union can win this! We’ve shown time and again that there’s nothing we can’t do if we have ambitious goals, a plan and a commitment to win together.

Background on Prop. 55

Prop. 55 is income tax on California’s wealthiest that is set to expire in 2030. It was passed by voters in 2012 and extended in 2016. Since its passing, Prop. 55 has generated billions in revenue for California’s general fund, 40% of which is constitutionally mandated by Prop. 98 to fund the state’s public schools. Learn more about Prop 55 Extension.