US EditionReaders respond: Billionaires must contribute fair share
- On Jan. 6-12, Mellman Group polled 800 voters and found initial 48% support for the measure, which fell to 46% after competing arguments were presented.
- The initiative would impose a one-time 5% tax assessed Jan. 1, 2026 on about 200 Californians with net worth of at least $1 billion, aiming to raise $100 billion for health care.
- Poll respondents expressed concerns that 69% believe billionaires will avoid the tax, 49% expect court delays and departures, and just 28% think it will prevent healthcare collapse.
- Sponsors and opponents have already traded barbs as organizers must gather nearly 900,000 signatures and clear a 50% threshold to qualify the tax for the November ballot.
- If upheld by courts, the levy could raise tens of billions for health care and affect another surtax ballot measure, while some wealthy Californians already left for Nevada, Texas and Florida with about 10 months to go before the 2026 elections.
27 Articles
27 Articles
Readers respond: Billionaires must contribute fair share
I read the article about the huge increase in electricity use in Oregon that directly correlates with huge data centers coming to our state, (“‘A 9-gigawatt problem’: Northwest’s soaring energy demand, supply constraints, could spark new power crisis,” Jan. 11). The same day, I was struck by an article about Google’s founders leaving California, possibly to avoid a potential ballot measure that would tax some assets of the super wealthy to benef…
The Mercury news
More than half of California’s billionaires call the Bay Area home: Who are they?
California is home to some 200 billionaires who could be subject to a proposed wealth tax, more than half of whom call the Bay Area home.
What is the California billionaire tax that could be on this year’s ballot?
(FOX 5/KUSI) — An effort to tax California's wealthiest residents could end up as a proposition on this year's ballot. The proposed initiative, known as the "2026 Billionaire Tax Act," has already led some billionaires to establish a bigger presence in other states in an effort to avoid it, should it pass. Here's what to know about the potential wealth tax on California's richest residents. What would the wealth tax do? The initiative would crea…
What is the California billionaire tax that could be on this year's ballot?
California's proposed "2026 Billionaire Tax Act" would impose a one-time tax on residents with a net worth of over $1 billion, with the proceeds to be used for health care, food, and education programs.
Press-Telegram
Would California voters actually support a wealth tax on billionaires?
In a sense, California has been taxing wealth since it became a state 175 years ago. Well into the 20th century, the state relied on taxing land and buildings which, in that agrarian period, were major forms of personal wealth. The state eventually imposed other taxes and by the 1930s, property taxes exclusively financed local services. Today, despite the limit on property taxes imposed by 1978’s Proposition 13, levies on nearly $9 trillion in t…
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