The proposal targets "tax-like fees" that provide a "general benefit to the entire community," said Larry McCarthy, president of the California Taxpayers Association, a business-oriented group that is one of the measure's sponsors.
Secretary of State Bill Jones announced Monday that the initiative had gathered 781,873 voter signatures. It needed at least 670,816 to qualify for the Nov. 7 ballot.
It would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to adopt such state fees and either a simple majority or two-thirds vote of local votes to approve such local fees.
The measure is in response to a 1997 state Supreme Court ruling that said the Legislature didn't need two-thirds votes to impose a fee on paint and oil companies to fund programs that protect children against lead poisoning.
Opponents argued that the fee was really a tax and should been approved by two-thirds votes instead of simple majorities of lawmakers.
Under Proposition 13, the 1978 property tax-cutting initiative, measures raising state taxes need a two-thirds vote.
"If you are going to impose a tax do it as a tax," McCarthy said. "Don't call it a fee to end-run that approval requirement."
He said the measure wouldn't cover local building permit or recreation fees that are related to a specific activity or function, but would apply to, for example, so-called street-cut fees that utilities are sometimes charged for digging up streets.
He said some local officials are using such fees to "generate substantial amounts of revenue to pave all kinds of new streets."
Officials with the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties could not be reached for comment.
Besides McCarthy's group, the ballot measure is also supported by the California Chamber of Commerce, California Manufacturers & Technology Association and the California Farm Bureau.