Majority

Los Angeles County's Measure A, on the Nov. 3 ballot, would amend the county charter to require that labor disputes with roughly 17,000 public safety employees—including sheriff's deputies, firefighters, lifeguards and coroner's office staff—go to a binding, three-member arbitration panel if negotiations stall. Currently the county can impose its own final offer. Backed by public safety unions and four of five county supervisors, the measure is framed as leveling the playing field since these workers cannot legally strike. There's no organized opposition, though accountability advocates and county finance officials have warned that mandatory arbitration could strain the county's budget and reduce transparency.

Voters in seven states, including Florida, Wyoming and Oklahoma, will decide Election Day ballot measures to cap, shrink or phase out property taxes, marking the largest such revolt since the 1970s. Florida's measure would raise homestead exemptions and open a path to eliminating nonschool property taxes; Wyoming's would cut assessed home values by half.

Critics point to California's 1978 Proposition 13 as a cautionary precedent: it slashed local property tax revenue, led to higher impact fees and other taxes, and is linked to worsening housing shortages and rising home-price-to-income ratios. Economists across the political spectrum, including Milton Friedman and Joseph Stiglitz, have defended property taxes as efficient and hard to avoid, complicating the push for sweeping cuts.

Tennessee voters will decide in November whether to constitutionally prohibit the state from ever levying a property tax, even though the state hasn't collected one since 1949. The measure is one of three proposed constitutional amendments on the November ballot and would amend Article II, Section 28 of the state constitution to bar the legislature from imposing a state property tax on real, personal, or mixed property.

Supporters, including Tennessee Association of Realtors president Chris Garrett and Republican lawmakers, argue the ban would protect homeowners from a future tax that only requires a simple legislative majority to enact, and note the amendment mirrors the state's 2014 constitutional ban on income taxes. Opponents, including Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro, call the measure unnecessary given the tax's 77-year dormancy and warn it could limit lawmakers' options during future fiscal crises. Others worry it could complicate taxation tied to business property values. Because amendments require approval from two consecutive General Assemblies before reaching voters, final passage now rests with the electorate.

Utah voters will consider Constitutional Amendment B on Nov. 3, which would require 60% voter approval for citizen initiatives that raise taxes, up from the current simple majority. The measure is backed by the Utah Taxpayers Association and Taxpayer Shield PAC, along with state Sen. Lincoln Fillmore and Rep. Jason Kyle, who argue tax increases should need broader public support.

Opponents, organized as Utahns Protecting Our Constitution, call the amendment unnecessary and warn it would let a minority of voters block popular measures; they note Utahns have passed tax-related initiatives by simple majority for more than 125 years. Critics also point to 2018, when Medicaid expansion and medical marijuana legalization both passed by slim majorities that would have failed under the new threshold. The amendment follows a broader national trend of state legislatures tightening rules around citizen-led ballot initiatives, and comes after a 2024 Utah amendment on initiative powers was voided by a judge over flawed ballot language. Mail ballots go out Oct. 13.

North Carolina's Nov. 3 general election ballot includes three constitutional amendments placed there by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. The first would extend the existing photo ID requirement to mail-in voters, who currently may instead submit a driver's license or partial Social Security number; voters already approved in-person photo ID in 2018, and mail-in fraud remains rare. The second would lower the state's constitutional income tax rate cap from 7% to 3.5%, requiring voter approval for any future increase above that level. Supporters, including sponsor Sen. Michael V. Lee, call it a taxpayer safeguard, while Gov. Josh Stein and other Democrats argue it mainly shields wealthy earners and would shift future budget pressure onto ordinary residents. The third amendment would require state lawmakers to set limits on local property tax increases; critics say it does little to address housing affordability. Each needs a simple majority to pass. Twenty-eight counties, including Mecklenburg, will also have local referendums, and voter registration closes Oct. 9.

Ohio lawmakers are being called back to the Statehouse for a special session to suspend the state's gas tax for 90 days, with Republican leaders and gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy pushing the plan amid rising fuel prices. Passage requires two-thirds support in both chambers to trigger an emergency clause allowing the suspension to take effect immediately; Senate Republicans appear to have the votes, but House Republicans will likely need Democratic support, and Gov. Mike DeWine has not committed to signing it.

The group Conserve Ohio is using the moment to press a separate cause: a one-year moratorium on new large data center projects, arguing that if lawmakers can move quickly on gas prices, they should act just as fast on rising electricity bills, which have climbed 34% since 2022. Earlier legislative efforts to regulate data center energy use stalled over a proposed sales-tax break cut. Conserve Ohio is urging supporters to attend the session and is separately gathering signatures for a 2027 ballot measure banning data centers over 25 megawatts.