Prop. 103 repeal is a good if unlikely idea

News reports have pointed to a newly proposed ballot initiative that would repeal California’s system of insurance regulation that took effect after voters approved Proposition 103 in 1988.

If voters approve the “California Market Reform Act of 2026,” it would impose dramatic—and largely laudable—changes in the state’s insurance system.

Think of it as a useful thought experiment, given there’s little chance of that happening.

Submitted by a Sacramento-area insurance agent, the measure appears to lack the kind of insurance-industry and political backing that would be necessary to gather the requisite signatures—and then run a multimillion-dollar political campaign to get it approved.

Anyone in California with a spare $2,000 can submit an initiative.

People sometimes do so to make a ser