Economic conditions & trends

California Billionaire Tax Backers Claim Enough Signatures for November Ballot

Is California's billionaire tax a lifeline for millions or a gamble that will drive the wealthy away?

Published 4 days ago

California Billionaire Tax Backers Claim Enough Signatures for November Ballot

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Above: Healthcare workers and other supporters with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition hold placards during a media briefing in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 27. Image credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Left narrative

California's billionaire tax is exactly the kind of bold action needed to stop a health care catastrophe. Federal cuts under HR1 could strip 3.4 million Californians of Medi-Cal, shutter hospitals and send insurance premiums soaring 97%. A one-time 5% tax on roughly 200 billionaires — designed so the ultra-wealthy can't dodge it by fleeing — is the most direct way to keep ERs open and protect working families.

Billionaire Tax Now

Bernie Sanders on X

Right narrative

Taxing billionaires sounds righteous until the billionaires leave — and many already have. Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Peter Thiel and others have bolted California ahead of this proposal, and the California Tax Foundation warns the state could lose up to $4.5 billion annually in tax revenue. Even Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes it, because gambling a one-time revenue bump against massive ongoing losses is a terrible deal for every Californian.

California Post on X California Tax Foundation

Chamath Palihapitiya on X

Narrative C

The California billionaire tax signature threshold has been reached because many of the signatures were never actually organic support — they were manufactured on the street for cash. Video shows circulators instructing people to use other names and offering $5 per signature, with some entries repeated or falsified. With that kind of system, of course, the numbers now "add up."

jj smith on X Sfchronicle