California leaders removed two voter initiatives from the November ballot Tuesday, striking deals with proponents to withdraw their measures in exchange for legislative changes.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said supporters had agreed to withdraw a pandemic preparedness measure that had been backed by disgraced former crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as a measure sponsored by children's hospitals that would have expanded state funding for health care for seriously ill children.
The agreements come during a week of maximum agreement in the capital over which measures will appear on the November ballot.
A law passed a decade ago created a negotiating window for ballot measure supporters to negotiate with lawmakers over policy changes approved by the legislature in exchange for removing their measures from the ballot. Previously, initiatives could not be removed from the ballot once they had gathered enough signatures to qualify.
This year's deadline to put measures on the November ballot is Thursday. Newsom must sign a balanced state budget by Sunday, another critical factor in negotiations over measures and legislation requiring state funding.
The pandemic preparedness measure, which gained steam during 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, would have increased taxes on personal income above $5 million by 0.75% over a decade. The campaign supporting the measure raised more than $21 million from groups funded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and Bankman-Fried.
After Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and public interest in pandemics began to wane, fundraising dried up. The committee had $28.56 on hand as of March 31, according to state documents.
Newsom said Tuesday that he would sign a bill that would expand the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine, a little-known state program that funds medical research, and expand its mandate to include technologies that could help with pandemic prevention. The agreement does not include additional financing.
Max Henderson, the measure's lead advocate, said in a statement that the effort “will help California lead the way in preventing loss of life, economic devastation and large-scale shutdowns due to future outbreaks.”
Newsom's office also announced a deal on a measure that would have expanded state funding for children's health care.
Instead the measure, which was sponsored by the California Children's Hospital Association. and qualified for the vote last week, Newsom said supporters had reached a deal to add more funding for children's health care to the state budget.
Ann-Louise Kuhns, president and CEO of the California Children's Hospital Association, said the budget agreement will create “less stress on the state budget for public health, public safety, public education and public infrastructure.”
