Overview
- SEIU–United Healthcare Workers West submitted more than 1.5 million signatures to place a one-time 5% tax on residents worth at least $1 billion on the November ballot, with county checks and state verification underway.
- Google co-founder Sergey Brin is bankrolling two rival measures through Building a Better California that would either ban taxes on personal property or require audits and steer any new tax money toward education.
- Backers project roughly $100 billion over five years from the levy, and the measure would create a Billionaire Tax Reserve Fund that directs 90% of proceeds to health care.
- The California Legislative Analyst’s Office and the Tax Foundation say revenues would likely be lower and warn of long-term losses if wealthy residents relocate to avoid the tax.
- May Day rallies in San Francisco highlighted organized support for the tax, with airport protests leading to the arrests of local officials who joined workers calling for higher public spending.