Capitol Briefs: A new caucus, ballot measure deals, pitching Newsom

At Close the Gap’s Sacramento Symposium Partners Reception on Wednesday, Executive Director Susannah Delano, along with Assemblymember Lori Wilson and Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, unveiled the newly formed Close the Gap Caucus.

“Parity does not take care of itself,” Delano told Capitol Weekly. “It really requires that year-round proactive targeted recruitment that Close the Gap was set up to do, or else we backslide the minute we stop recruiting.”

The caucus is intended to help preserve and advance the gains women have made in California politics over the past decade. While Delano described the group as more of an honorary coalition than a traditional legislative caucus, she said it will serve as a vehicle for lawmakers to support the continued recruitment and election of women candidates.

The announcement comes as California verges on legislative gender parity. According to Close the Gap’s 2026 Midyear Report, women currently hold 59 of the Legislature’s 120 seats. However, Delano noted that maintaining those gains will be challenging as nine women legislators are set to term out ahead of the 2026 election cycle.

Close the Gap has played a significant role in that progress. Delano noted that women elected with the organization’s support now make up more than 20 percent of the Legislature and nearly half of all women serving in Sacramento.

The inaugural caucus has already attracted roughly 40 members and is led by Honorary Chair Assemblymember Wilson and Honorary Vice Chair Senator Pérez. In a statement to Capitol Weekly, Pérez said the caucus builds on a historic moment for women in California government.

“I’m honored to serve as the Vice Chair of California’s Close the Gap Caucus,” Pérez said. “Being elected to the State Senate in the first cohort to achieve a majority of female members, I am energized by this historic moment for California. Gender parity creates better policy through diverse perspectives. I am committed to encouraging more women leaders to step forward to offer their valuable experience and wisdom by serving in elected office.”

Voters could still see 19 ballot measures: Even with the deal between Uber and Consumer Attorneys of California to pull opposing initiatives off the ballot, voters could still be asked to weigh in on 19 ballot measures in November.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, three measures have qualified and will be on the ballot:

ACA 13 (Ward) Voting thresholds. (Res. Ch. 176, 2023)

SCA 1 (Newman) Elections: recall of state officers. (Res. Ch. 204, 2024)

SB 42 (Umberg) Political Reform Act of 1974: public campaign financing: California Fair Elections Act of 2026. (Ch. 245, 2025)

As of today and still counting the Uber and Consumer Attorneys measures, another 14 are eligible, including those to impose a one-time tax on high-wealth individuals, limit compensation for health care executives and to create a loan program for middle-income first-time home buyers. That figure would drop to 12 if the deal to pull the competing measures can be reached by the June 25^th deadline.

Four more measures are pending signature verification, including one that would require the UC system to provide down payment home loans to specified staff.

Courting Gavin’s support for taxing billionaires: The group supporting the so-called billionaire tax initiative made a public pitch to reverse Gov. Newsom’s long-stated opposition to the measure. In an open letter to Newsom, The Billionaire Tax Now Coalition released an open letter to Newsom urging him to endorse a modified 2 percent version of the coalition’s original 5 percent tax proposal, saying the revised version “reflects the urgency of the moment and the need to secure funding quickly to protect patients, preserve healthcare access, and prevent the burden of Trump’s healthcare cuts from being shifted onto working Californians.”

Poll says Californians want lower taxes, fewer government services: A newly-released Public Policy of California poll shows that a majority of Californians want to pay lower taxes even if it means the government will provide fewer services.

When asked how the state should address future budget shortfalls, nearly half of those surveyed favor a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.