Overview
- Silicon Valley opposition escalated as Google co-founder Sergey Brin committed about $45 million to the Building a Better California campaign, which has raised roughly $80 million to block the measure, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- The plan would impose a one-time 5% levy on residents worth more than $1 billion, and supporters say it could raise about $100 billion for health care and other services.
- Stanford researchers now peg potential collections near $40 billion after confirmed high-profile exits reduced the pool of taxable wealth.
- California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office says the tax could bring a short-term boost but likely reduce annual income-tax revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars or more.
- The union sponsor reports gathering about 25% of the signatures needed for the November 2026 ballot, a UC Berkeley/Politico poll finds about half of voters support the tax with 28% opposed, and Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the measure.