California Could Become the First State to Tax Billionaires' Wealth

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : California's budget relies heavily on the income tax of the state's richest residents.
52% : Progressive politicians, including Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have long supported a federal wealth tax.
52% : Newsom says a California wealth tax would disadvantage the state, but he supports a national minimum tax on anyone with a net worth above $100 million.
51% : California voters are considering a first-in-the-nation measure to tax the net worth of billionaires SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California could become the first state in the nation to tax the net worth of billionaires Tuesday under a ballot measure that has divided liberal leaders nationally and triggered one of the most expensive ballot fights in state history as the ultra-rich scramble to figure out whether they would pay the tax or flee.
48% : Mark Zuckerberg said he would stay in California for eight years and made a deal with Meta that would help him pay the tax without losing his ownership stake in the company.
48% : " Anthony Serrano, a Democrat living in Folsom who works for Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare plans, said he was leaning toward voting for the tax because he tends to support "anything that is a positive for healthcare.
46% : They're concerned about how the tax revenue would be divvied up and about the potential impact on the state's budget if there's a mass exodus of wealthy taxpayers.
43% : Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of Californians whose net worth exceeds $1 billion, with most of the revenue dedicated to replacing federal funding cuts to healthcare.
43% : That's an apparent shift from a PPIC survey conducted in early September, when 52% of likely voters said they'd vote for the tax and 46% said they'd vote against it.
42% : "It's time to collect those taxes so we can ensure that our healthcare system is still safe," said Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions.
42% : But some traditional Democratic allies, including Planned Parenthood and the California Teachers Association, are part of a coalition opposing it.
40% : But Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom warns it would prompt the state's wealthiest to move out of California and take their tax money with them.
38% : The proposals, which are backed by the political action committee Building a Better California, include a ban on new taxes on financial assets and other personal property, a category that excludes real estate.
31% : Backers of the proposed tax, led by the powerful labor union SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, say it's needed to help the state backfill the federal funding cuts.
24% : " Even if the proposed billionaire tax fails in California, the battle over the measure ignited a crucial dialogue on the issue, Gonzalez said.

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