From BBC News · · 1m 10s
California voters reject billionaire wealth tax
Proposition 40, which would have imposed a 5% tax on the state's roughly 200 billionaires to fund healthcare, failed after a week of vote counting.
In brief
Proposition 40, which would have imposed a 5% tax on the state's roughly 200 billionaires to fund healthcare, failed after a week of vote counting. California voters rejected Proposition 40, a wealth tax targeting billionaires that would have raised about one hundred billion dollars for healthcare. Originally reported…
Wealth tax fails in California
California voters rejected Proposition 40 after a week of vote counting. The measure would have taxed billionaires at five percent on their total wealth, including shares and assets.
Tax would have funded healthcare
Proposition 40 targeted Californians with wealth over one point one billion dollars. It would have raised about one hundred billion dollars to replace federal healthcare funding cuts from President Donald Trump's tax bill.
Billionaires and governor opposed it
Google co-founder Sergey Brin gave more than one hundred million dollars to block the tax. Governor Gavin Newsom worried it would cause wealthy people to leave and reduce income tax revenue.
Union pledges to try again
Dave Regan, president of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, said billionaires' efforts created confusion. He pledged to seek a billionaire tax once more in twenty twenty-eight.
“a lot of confusion and a lot of second-guessing among people who really in their hearts know what the right the thing to do is”
What it means
California voters rejected Proposition 40, a wealth tax targeting billionaires that would have raised about one hundred billion dollars for healthcare.
