Protect Healthcare Jobs and the Businesses Around Them

VOTE YES ON PROP 40

Vote Yes on Prop 40 to help keep care in our communities. An economy needs people who can get treatment and workers who can keep providing it—not just wealthy investors.

The facts at a glance

Prop 40 permits funding to prevent or reduce healthcare closures and service cuts. [1]

The Berkeley jobs figures are pre-enactment scenarios, not observed layoffs. [2]

The California Nurses Association (CNA) and the California Federation of Labor Unions have documented support for Prop 40. [3][4]

The National Union of Healthcare Workers endorsed Prop 40 in September 2026. [7]

A healthcare cut reaches beyond the hospital

A provider’s budget supports more than equipment and buildings. It supports the people who answer the phone, schedule appointments, clean rooms, deliver meals, and care for patients. According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, over 2.6 million Californians work in the healthcare sector, across hospitals, doctor’s offices, home health, nursing homes, and other care facilities. That’s 14% of the state’s total workforce. So when that funding is withdrawn, the impact can spread to suppliers and local spending. [6]

UC Berkeley Labor Center researcher Laurel Lucia modeled that connection in an April 2025 analysis. In scenarios with $10 billion to $20 billion less annual federal Medi-Cal funding, the study estimated a loss of 109,000 to 217,000 jobs across California. Healthcare accounted for about two-thirds of the modeled losses and other sectors would be affected too. [2]

Use the jobs research for what it actually shows

That study was published before the final federal bill. Its figures are scenarios, not a tally of layoffs already caused by the enacted law and not a forecast of the exact number of jobs Prop 40 would save. Its relevance is the economic connection: cutting healthcare funding is predicted to affect more than healthcare employers and workers. [2]

For a local business, that connection is easy to understand. A supplier may lose a customer. A worker with fewer paid hours may spend less in nearby shops.

Prop 40 directs money toward keeping care available

The proposed healthcare account can fund Medi-Cal and other coverage, support hospitals and other providers, and prevent or reduce facility closures and service cuts. Those uses are written into the measure. [1]

It also bars using the new revenues to replace existing state support for the designated purposes. New tax receipts should add resources to the response rather than merely change the label on money the state was already spending.[1]

Workers have a place in this decision

The California Nurses Association’s endorsement list supports Prop 40. The California Federation of Labor Unions also announced its support. Those are documented positions from organizations representing workers—not endorsements inferred from somebody’s occupation. [3][4]

Their support is a reason to hear the people who deliver care and work in California’s communities. It is not a substitute for a fiscal analysis. This page connects both: the worker organizations’ positions and the evidence about what the measure is allowed to fund.

The National Union of Healthcare Workers also endorsed Prop 40 in September 2026. [7]

A vote for care is a vote for a stronger foundation

Prop 40 does not promise a job to every worker or financial relief to every business. It creates a targeted revenue source and names healthcare protection as its principal purpose. [1]

When we decide what helps California’s economy, we should count the cost of losing care as well as the cost of raising revenue. Keeping a clinic available and a care team working are economic priorities worth defending.

A few more answers

The people and institutions behind the evidence

People and organizations backing a Yes vote

Keep reading

CHECK THE EVIDENCE

Sources behind this page

Each reference identifies what it establishes. A cited agency or researcher is not automatically a campaign endorser.

Vote Yes on Prop 40.

Vote Yes on Prop 40. Protect the care, workers, and everyday economic life that make our communities work.

Help pass Prop 40 →   Explore all topics →