Focus Areas

State Ballot Measures

PTAs and Ballot Measure Positions

While unit, council, and district PTAs are not required to work actively for any position, they should not officially oppose a stand taken by California State PTA.

Important Information

  • For additional information, see Legislation Policy 7.
  • Campaign Restrictions: Use of School Resources
    • There are strict restrictions against using school district resources for political activity. This includes, for example, advocating for a ballot measure on school property and communicating advocacy information using school resources such as school email, website, etc.
    • You may gather signatures OFF school property and hold PTA meetings OFF school property for advocacy. You may use your PTA website and PTA email to distribute information to your members.
    • Please contact your school district for rules and permit requirements for any political activity on school property.
  • Campaign Reporting Rules for Local PTAs
  • California School Boards Association (CSBA) guidelines for Use of Public Resources for Ballot Measures for more information and guidance.

CALIFORNIA STATE PTA SUPPORTS PROPOSITION 31

REFERENDUM CHALLENGING A 2020 LAW PROHIBITING RETAIL SALE OF CERTAIN FLAVORED TOBACCO PRODUCTS

SB 793, which was signed into law in 2020, would prohibit a tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco retailer’s agents or employees, from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product or a tobacco product flavor enhancer, as those terms are defined, except as specified. The law would make a violation of this prohibition an infraction punishable by a fine of $250 for each violation.

The opponents of SB 793 have qualified this referendum to require that voters approve that law. Voting Yes on Proposition 31 will prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products.

The California State PTA conducted two studies of this measure and approved the study recommendations in February 2022.

Read our September and October PTA Connects blog posts to learn how local PTAs can actively advocate for the passage of Prop 31.

Dr. Monica Wilson-Caffey’s Parents Against Vaping e-cigs (PAVe) presentation

CALIFORNIA STATE PTA SUPPORTS PROPOSITION 28

CALIFORNIA ART AND MUSIC K-12 EDUCATION FUNDING INITIATIVE

Also called the “The Arts and Music in Schools – Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act.”

The initiative would require the state to provide funding to increase arts instruction and programs in schools. Funding is allocated based on the enrollment of the prior year for PreK-12 public school students, with 70 percent distributed to schools based on their share of statewide enrollment and 30 percent based on each school’s share of low-income students statewide. The majority of the funding is to be used to hire new staff (80 percent) and for arts education programs. The initiative would also require schools to publish reports showing how the money was used to directly benefit students.

See the California State PTA Referendum Study Report here.

Read our September and October PTA Connects blog posts to learn how local PTAs can actively advocate for the passage of Prop 28.

SENATE BILL 54 (Removed from ballot, enacted through state legislation.) 

REQUIRES STATE REGULATIONS TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE, TAX PRODUCERS OF SINGLE-USE PLASTICS, AND FUND RECYCLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

The original ballot initiative would have required the California Department of Resources, Recycling, and Recovery (CalRecycle), in consultation with other agencies, to adopt regulations that reduce the use of single-use plastic packaging and foodware. At the end of June, Governor Newsom signed SB 54 into law, which largely met the goal of the initiative.

Click here for detailed information about this ballot measure as described in the California State PTA Initiative Study Report. Read the text of the final bill, SB 54, here.