US EditionLetters to the Editor: The entire premise of California’s proposed one-time wealth tax is misleading
The proposed tax targets 200-250 billionaires and could raise $100 billion, nearly 30% of California’s annual budget, with payments spread over five years.
- This past week, Building a Better California filed a disclosure seeking a one-time 5% wealth tax on state billionaires, due in 2027 with payments spread over five years.
- Supporters say the measure would raise about $100 billion, nearly 30% of California's annual budget, to replace federal Medicaid cuts, backed by SEIU-UHW and allied groups.
- High-Profile billionaires and executives are financing opposition and parallel measures, including Sergey Brin, Google cofounder, who donated $20 million, with Peter Thiel, Eric Schmidt, and Max Levchin giving millions more.
- The initiative needs nearly 900,000 valid voter signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot and would face fierce pushback from business and legal opponents, with Gov. Gavin Newsom opposing it.
- Finn and Mineros wrote that `Roughly 200 California billionaires hold an astounding $2 trillion in wealth; each of the Billionaires could spend $500 million a year from their interest earnings alone and not touch a penny of their wealth`, while Stanford research finds just over 2% of millionaires change states annually.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Sergey Brin and the who's who of tech donated millions ahead of California's wealth tax vote
Max Levchin, Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt, and other billionaires dumped millions in donations ahead of California's wealth tax.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images, Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, Yoan Valat, Pool via APThe who's who of California's billionaires are pouring millions into state campaigns.Sergey Brin, Max Levchin, Eric Schmidt, and others donated $35 million to support housing reform.The donations come ahead of a contentious billionaire wealth tax…
California's Tax On Billionaires May Work -- But There's A Better Solution
A coalition of unions and other progressive groups is trying to get an initiative on California’s ballot this fall which would impose a five percent tax on the wealth of the 200-250 billionaires living in the state. The tax would be retroactive, so it applies to billionaires who lived in the state as of January 1 of this year. The supporters estimate that it could raise $100 billion, almost 30 percent of the state’s annual budget, although the t…
One of America’s largest unions backs massive California wealth tax as billionaires bolt
One of America’s largest unions has made a public declaration regarding California’s hotly-debated billionaire wealth tax.Teamsters California and its 250,000 members have formally backed state legislation proposing a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents worth more than $1 billion."The fight to pass the California Billionaire Tax is a fight to protect workers’ ability to afford living in California; it's a fight Teamsters Cal…
Letters to the Editor: The entire premise of California’s proposed one-time wealth tax is misleading
'Any "tax expert" with common sense is well aware that many — perhaps a significant majority — of the targets of the tax will contest it (and aggressively discount their assets in self-assessing their tax),' writes an L.A. Times reader.
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