California proposal would impose one-time 5% tax on billionaires' assets

Time reports that a proposed California ballot measure, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, seeks to impose a one‑time 5% tax on billionaires’ assets and may cause the state to lose billions in future tax revenue before it reaches the ballot. The measure would levy a one‑time 5% tax and is still gathering the 90,000 signatures required to qualify for the November ballot.

The push is led by the SEIU‑UHW union, which says on its website it is “calling on California’s billionaires to step up and pay a one‑time, emergency 5% tax to prevent the collapse of California healthcare and help fund California public K‑14 education and state food assistance programs,” and notes it would affect roughly 200 people with a combined net worth of $2 trillion.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has opposed the proposal, telling The New York Times, “This will be defeated. There’s no question in my mind,” calling it “really damaging” and “bad economics,” and saying a tax on assets is “something very, very different” from the state’s progressive income tax; he later told Politico, “This is my fear,” about wealthy residents leaving.

Key Topics

Politics, Billionaire Tax Act, Gavin Newsom, Seiu-uhw, Wealth Tax, California