FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2025

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation: Requires University of California to Provide Downpayment Home Loans to Certain Staff. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

Sacramento, Calif. – California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., announced that the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures on November 12, 2025.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent(s) and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides a calendar of deadlines to the proponent(s) and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

REQUIRES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA TO PROVIDE DOWNPAYMENT HOME LOANS TO CERTAIN STAFF. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. The University of California (UC) currently offers home loans to faculty and managers. This measure requires UC to provide no-interest 20% downpayment loans to non-faculty, non-managerial staff who are first-time homeowners with five years’ experience working for UC. No monthly payments required; staff must repay loan—plus 20% of any increase in home’s value—when home is sold or refinanced. Requires 75% of loans be made available to staff with household incomes at or below area median income. Prohibits using taxpayer funds, tuition, or General Fund to fund loans. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Costs to the University of California of about $30 million annually the first few years to provide new home loans, with annual costs decreasing over a few decades as loans are repaid. (25-0018A1.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1995 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 25-0018A1.

The proponent of the measure, Michael Avant, must collect signatures of 874,641 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2022 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than May 11, 2026. The address for the proponent is c/o Liz Perlman, 425 15th St., Oakland, CA 94612. The proponent may also be contacted at (510) 844-1160 and info@afscme3299.org.

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