California Voters Get the First Say on a Billionaire Wealth Tax

California voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether the state's billionaires should pay a one-time 5% surtax on their wealth. Proposition 40 would send most of the money to healthcare, and payments would begin in 2027 in up to five annual installments, the New York Post reported.

A caveat first: every fact in this story comes from the Post's reporting, and only a partial excerpt of that story was available for review. No ballot text, campaign filings or official statements were examined, so the claims below are the Post's and have not been independently verified.

What gives the measure national weight, according to the Post, is who is behind it and who is against it. The paper reports that Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna, the Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, back the measure, and that advisers to Sen. Elizabeth Warren have given it a boost. It also reports that Sanders, Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are behind efforts in Congress to tax billionaires' wealth. The Post says the opposition includes Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, Republicans, and Hollywood and tech figures.

Who Wrote It and Who Is Paying

The Post reports that the measure is sponsored by the Service Employees International Union and United Healthcare Workers West. The top individual donor, per the Post, is Saikat Chakrabarti, a former chief of staff to Ocasio-Cortez, who gave $201,000.

Our Revolution, a Sanders-linked group, is also pushing the measure. Robert Dempsey, the group's San Francisco-based political director, linked the effort to the 2025 Medicaid cuts, according to the Post.

"It's a blueprint for direct democracy in the states to retake their power and address some of the actions by Congress," Dempsey said, as quoted by the Post.

The Opposition Camp

The Post describes a coalition working to defeat Proposition 40 that includes Newsom, Republicans, Hollywood figures and tech executives. The portion of its reporting available for this story did not spell out what Newsom has said or done to oppose the measure, and it did not name specific tech or entertainment figures in the campaign against it. Those details could not be confirmed.

Readers should also note what is missing so far. The material available here did not include how much money the tax would raise, how many billionaires it would reach, or what polling shows. It also did not say whether the measure reached the ballot as a legislative referral or as an initiative, and the exact legal text was not reviewed. The Post calls the vote a referendum. The measure's official ballot language and the state's nonpartisan fiscal analysis were not reviewed either.

The Washington Angle

The Post reports that passage could start a debate in Congress or lead other high-wealth states to copy California, and that Ocasio-Cortez is ready to take the idea to Washington. That last point is the Post's characterization. No statement or action from her on Proposition 40 appeared in the reporting reviewed here.

What Comes Next

Californians vote Nov. 3. If Proposition 40 passes, the first installments would begin in 2027, with up to five annual payments. Still to be checked are the ballot summary from the Secretary of State or the Legislative Analyst, campaign finance data, any statements from Newsom, the donors behind the opposition, polling, and anything Ocasio-Cortez says about the measure.