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Healthcare is among voters鈥 top concerns in the midterm elections, but a to tax the state鈥檚 billionaires to pay for it is dividing the electorate.
The first-in-the nation wealth tax proposal takes aim at the ultrarich in the nation鈥檚 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.
鈥淭hese 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 don鈥檛 need that,鈥 Steve Erler, a Pasadena resident, said while out walking his dog in August. 鈥淭hey need to be able to say when they go to bed at night, 鈥業 helped a child with healthcare. I helped a senior get fed.鈥 That鈥檚 what鈥檚 important.鈥
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 it鈥檚 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.
鈥淚’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,鈥 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 won鈥檛 make up for the estimated $30 billion a year in federal cuts to the state鈥檚 Medicaid program from the GOP鈥檚 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Ren茅 Bravo, a pediatrician in San Luis Obispo County and the president of the California Medical Association, said that any billionaire tax revenue 鈥渋s going to run out鈥 and that lawmakers should instead 鈥渨ork on a more sustainable, durable funding mechanism鈥 for the state鈥檚 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.
鈥淭axes have a way of being needed over and over, and politicians have a way of finding those needs,鈥 Wines said. 鈥淪o, I don鈥檛 really feel secure that this is just a one-time thing.鈥
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 nation鈥檚 first wealth tax on billionaires. Supporters say the proceeds would help offset President Donald Trump鈥檚 sweeping healthcare cuts. But critics argue that the temporary infusion of cash is a giveaway to politicians.
