California billionaire tax proposal clears signature hurdle for November ballot
A proposed tax on billionaires' assets is now eligible for the November 2026 ballot in California, the Secretary of State's office announced Wednesday.
Supporters of the initiative, branded as a "billionaire tax," say California hospitals could face catastrophic consequences if the measure does not pass.
SEIU United Healthcare Workers West led the effort to launch the proposed wealth tax after President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress approved federal health care cuts. The union and its supporters say revenue from the tax would help make up for those cuts.
But the proposal is also facing rare bipartisan opposition in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the initiative, as do Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton, the two projected candidates in the November race for California governor.
"If they chase all these billionaires out of the state, they're going lose their income taxes - which is a big chunk of the state's revenue. That's one of the arguments against it," CalMatters political reporter Dan Walters said.
Political experts say an intense pressure campaign is happening behind the scenes to get organizers to withdraw the measure from the November ballot. That decision would have to be made in the next couple of weeks.
"The billionaire's tax right now is Sacramento's biggest political hot potato," said Mike Bonin, a former Los Angeles city councilman and the current executive director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA.
Bonin said the initiative is pitting some of the state's most influential unions against each other.
"You've got one of the more powerful unions of the state of California, or SEIU, who are pushing it. But you've got a lot of other progressive labor unions that are quietly behind the scenes that they don't want to see this. They're worried that it won't benefit their constituencies," Bonin said.
According to Forbes data, more than 200 billionaires live in California. If passed, the initiative would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires' stocks and other assets.
The Secretary of State's Office has deemed the initiative eligible for the November ballot after supporters cleared the required signature threshold. The measure needed 874,641 valid petition signatures, and the California Billionaire Tax coalition said in April that it had filed more than 1.55 million.
Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber has until June 25 to formally certify the initiative, unless the petition is withdrawn before then.
