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Healthcare is among votersā top concerns in the midterm elections, but a to tax the stateās billionaires to pay for it is dividing the electorate.
The first-in-the nation wealth tax proposal takes aim at the ultrarich in the nationās wealthiest state to help offset to healthcare, food assistance, and education.
If enacted, of the who call California home would be subject to the one-time 5% tax.
āThese people who are making all this money, they can never spend it all. What are they going to do, buy another house in the Hamptons, buy another jet? They donāt need that,ā Steve Erler, a Pasadena resident, said while out walking his dog in August. āThey need to be able to say when they go to bed at night, āI helped a child with healthcare. I helped a senior get fed.ā Thatās whatās important.ā
Put on the ballot by one of , Proposition 40 would tax the net worth of billionaires, including most of their stock holdings, yachts, and artwork.
But itās not clear exactly how the revenue raised will be spent if voters approve the measure. It directs lawmakers to spend the bulk of the money on healthcare but leaves the details up to them.
āI’m not sure that you can say, with full security, that this will stop clinics from being closed or healthcare workers from being laid off, or people from losing their healthcare,ā said Chris Hoene, executive director of the California Budget & Policy Center, a left-leaning nonprofit.
Community health centers, doctors, and other healthcare entities that might benefit from such a cash infusion argue that the ballot measure wonāt make up for the estimated $30 billion a year in federal cuts to the stateās Medicaid program from the GOPās One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
RenĆ© Bravo, a pediatrician in San Luis Obispo County and the president of the California Medical Association, said that any billionaire tax revenue āis going to run outā and that lawmakers should instead āwork on a more sustainable, durable funding mechanismā for the stateās Medicaid program.
Polls show California voters appear torn over departing billionaires. Pasadena resident Lynne Wines, a 72-year-old retired banker, worries that wealthy investors will flee the state over fears that the tax will be repeated.
āTaxes have a way of being needed over and over, and politicians have a way of finding those needs,ā Wines said. āSo, I donāt really feel secure that this is just a one-time thing.ā
Already several Democratic states, including , , , and , have approved millionaire taxes, but those have been limited to income, not overall wealth. Voters in Washington state will decide this fall whether to .
An initiative on the California ballot would levy the nationās first wealth tax on billionaires. Supporters say the proceeds would help offset President Donald Trumpās sweeping healthcare cuts. But critics argue that the temporary infusion of cash is a giveaway to politicians.
