On August 1, SEIU United Healthcare Workers West submitted paperwork to place two statewide ballot initiatives on the November 2026 ballot. The first, would place a cap on the total annual salary compensation for executives, administrators, and managers at hospitals and medical groups at $450,000 per year. The salary cap would not apply to medical or health care professionals whose primary duties are providing medical services, research, or direct patient care. The Attorney General or any state taxpayer may bring an action to enforce the cap, although a taxpayer must give notice to the Attorney General of their intent to bring a suit and would be barred from bringing suit if the Attorney General files an action for the same alleged violation. Further, failure to comply with the salary cap could be grounds for the revocation of an organization’s tax-exempt status. The language of the “Health Care Executive Compensation Act of 2026” can be found here.  

The second initiative would create a spending cap on administrative costs for federally qualified health centers by requiring federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and FQHC look-alikes to spend at least 90% of its total revenue on patient care and mission-related services. It would also mandate FQHCs to publicly report their financials and spending priorities. This initiative is similar to AB 1113 sponsored by SEIU California that did not move forward this year and became a two-year bill in May. The language for the “Clinic Funding Accountability and Transparency Act” can be found here.

The two measures will now go through an amendment period of 35 days and the Attorney General will issue a Title and Summary within 65 days. The proponents of the ballot initiative must then collect enough signatures for the initiatives to qualify for the November 2026 ballot. More information on ballot initiatives, including the status of these and other active measures, can be found on the Attorney General’s website.