California’s proposed tax on billionaires could still make it onto the November ballot, but if it does, voters may also see a rival measure designed to blunt its impact or potentially nullify it altogether.
The California Secretary of State announced late Tuesday that a proposal requiring audits of programs financed by new state special taxes has qualified for the ballot after collecting more than 962,000 signatures. It is set to be certified on June 25 unless it is withdrawn before then.
The measure is the first of several ballot efforts supported by Building A Better California to qualify. The group, backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and other wealthy Bay Area figures, has spent tens of millions of dollars opposing the billionaire tax.
The Post contacted the organization for comment on the measure’s qualification.
The billionaire tax, pushed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), would impose a one-time 5% tax on California residents with assets above $1 billion. Supporters say the money is intended to offset federal cuts to healthcare funding.
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The proposal has drawn sharp resistance from affluent Californians as well as critics including Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who warn that it could damage the state’s economy by driving billionaires to leave California.
Brin and other opponents are backing the audit measure and related proposals as a way to weaken, complicate or “spoil” the billionaire tax if voters approve it. The newly qualified initiative would expand oversight of new taxpayer-funded programs and contains language that could effectively invalidate the billionaire tax or expose it to legal challenges.
“It’s a clever strategy if you’ve got lots of money,” Shaun Bowler, a political science professor at UC Riverside, told Governing.
Still everything can be changed by June 25. Both the tax proposal and competing initiatives could still be withdrawn before June 25 if Newsom succeeds in negotiating a compromise.
So far, there hasn’t been much progress, at least publicly. Supporters of the billionaire tax recently offered Newsom the option of a 2% tax enacted through legislation instead, but the governor swiftly declined.
“The governor supports making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share, but this poorly designed state-only measure will defund teachers, schools, clinics, and public safety,” his office said.
If the billionaire tax proposal reaches voters, analysts expect an expensive election fight.
