SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West has filed to place a statewide initiative on the November 2026 ballot that would cap hospital executive pay.
Under the Aug. 1 filing, total annual compensation for executives, administrators and managers at nonprofit and for-profit hospitals and medical groups would be capped at $450,000 — the same as the U.S. president’s salary.
The union argues that this figure is more than sufficient and calls for redirecting what they say is excessive pay toward workforce investments.
“Every dollar that disappears into a seven‑figure healthcare executive salary is a dollar that could shorten an ER wait, hire another frontline caregiver, or lower a patient’s bill. Healthcare dollars should go toward expanding access to high-quality, affordable care, not padding executive pay,” Mayra Castaneda, an ultrasound technologist at a hospital in Lynwood, Calif., said in the union news release.
The California Hospital Association opposes the measure. “At a time when California’s healthcare system will be tested like never before, it’s regrettable that one organization is driving the best and brightest minds away from our state,” Carmela Coyle, CHA president and CEO, said in a statement. “Rather than working together to protect patient care on the heels of unprecedented federal cuts to health care resources, this unnecessary and cynical ballot measure will only further strain our healthcare system by making it more difficult to recruit and retain thoughtful and mission-driven leaders who are best able to find innovative ways to preserve access to vital health care services.”
Following the filing, California’s attorney general will issue a title and summary in the next few months, at which point the union will be allowed to collect signatures, according to state law. After a 180-day period to collect signatures, the secretary of state will verify them and place the measure on the ballot.
This isn’t the first time the union has tried to cap healthcare executive pay. It has filed similar compensation caps proposals multiple times at the state and or local level, most recently in Los Angeles. None has gone into effect.
