November Ballot to Feature Tax Increase on Billionaires in California
WHO:
ABC News - California voters will consider a measure to raise taxes on billionaires.
Los Angeles Times - Debru Carthan, spokesperson for the Billionaire Tax Now Coalition, which is funded by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West.
Los Angeles Times - Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) criticized opposition to the tax.
Los Angeles Times - Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed the billionaire tax proposal.
Los Angeles Times - Jodi Hicks, chief executive and president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, expressed concerns about the tax.
Los Angeles Times - Rob Lapsley, co-chair of Californians Against Tax Increases and president of the California Business Roundtable, opposed the tax.
Los Angeles Times - Francisco Silva, president and CEO of the California Primary Care Assn., spoke against the tax.
WHAT:
ABC News - A proposal to impose a one-time tax on billionaires will appear on the November ballot.
Los Angeles Times - The proposed tax is a one-time 5% tax on billionaires' assets.
Los Angeles Times - A labor union spent $31 million gathering signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Los Angeles Times - The proposed tax aims to offset $100 billion in federal healthcare funding cuts.
Los Angeles Times - Nearly 1.6 million signatures were submitted to qualify the proposal for the ballot.
Los Angeles Times - Two opposing measures also qualified for the November ballot, one barring new state taxes on personal property and another prohibiting new taxes from being exempted from existing state spending rules.
WHERE:
ABC News - The proposal will be voted on by Californians.
Los Angeles Times - The campaign kickoff event took place at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.
WHEN:
Los Angeles Times - The measure is expected to appear on the ballot on Nov. 3.
Los Angeles Times - The deadline for the union to withdraw their proposal was Thursday evening.
WHY:
Los Angeles Times - The tax is proposed to help fund federal healthcare cuts affecting low-income residents.
Los Angeles Times - Opponents argue the tax would make California's budget more unstable and threaten funding for essential services.
HOW:
Los Angeles Times - The tax proposal is retroactive to billionaires who lived in California as of Jan. 1.
Los Angeles Times - The campaign gathered signatures through a labor union's efforts.
(UPDATED June 26, 2026 08:14 UTC)
California voters will soon have the opportunity to weigh in on a proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires' assets, which aims to offset $100 billion in federal healthcare funding cuts and will appear on the ballot on November 3. The initiative, backed by the Billionaire Tax Now Coalition and funded by a labor union that spent $31 million to gather nearly 1.6 million signatures, has drawn criticism from various leaders, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Rep. Ro Khanna. In addition to this measure, two opposing proposals will also be on the ballot, one aimed at barring new state taxes on personal property and another that seeks to prohibit new taxes from being exempted from existing state spending rules.