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** California Union Goes to the Ballot to Shakedown Billionaires
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Dear John,
SEIU (the Service Employees International Union) is at it again. After failing three times to use California ballot initiatives to shake down dialysis providers, the union is now turning its ballot warfare to a new target: California’s 200 or so billionaires.
SEIU is sponsoring the “2026 Billionaire Tax Act ([link removed]) .” The measure, recently listed on the Attorney General’s website, would impose a one time 5% tax on individual wealth exceeding $1 billion.
Although the tax would be levied based on 2026 net worth, it would apply to billionaires who resided in California in 2025, so theoretically it could not be avoided. Of course, billionaires are well equipped to defend themselves in court, so the constitutionality of this unprecedented tax will be rigorously tested.
Proponents assert that the measure would not cause billionaires to flee the state because of the one-time nature of the tax. Unlike federal wealth taxes floated by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the SEIU tax would not be applied each year.
But critics on X ([link removed]) were quick to spot the flaw in that logic: if the state could impose a wealth tax once, it could do so again and again. So, yes, billionaires would leave if this measure passed. Indeed, they might leave simply if this gets on the ballot given SEIU’s relentlessness as shown by the 2018, 2020, and 2022 measures directed at the dialysis providers.
And, since billionaires provide a disproportionate share of California’s general revenue, an exodus could prove to be a budget nightmare. The billionaire tax would be placed in a special fund, 90% of which would be devoted to healthcare spending and the rest to K-12 education.
If some billionaires leave, the state’s general fund will have less money to support law enforcement, corrections, higher education, and other spending priorities funded by SEIU’s billionaire tax.
Of course, that is less of a concern to SEIU. The new revenue will flow to healthcare providers that will in turn offer more jobs to SEIU members. They, in turn, will pay more dues to SEIU so that leadership can concoct the next ballot measure shakedown.
— by CPC visiting fellow Marc Joffe. Joffe is president of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association and the author of the recently released CPC report, "The Cost of Transit in California." ([link removed])
** CPC's California Book of Exoduses
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With the state’s top earners and job creators already heading for the exits, the union's proposed initiative threatens to make California's economic trajectory worse. Spurred by the concerning outmigration of people, jobs, and investment over the past decade, CPC's California Book of Exoduses keeps a running list of the hundreds of businesses that have left the Golden State. See the list here. ([link removed])
New Podcast ()
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** Radio Free California #414: Did the New York Times Just End Scott Wiener?
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On this week's podcast with CPC president Will Swaim and CPC board member David Bahnsen: State Sen. Scott Wiener is angling for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat but a New York Times magazine investigation links Wiener’s 2022 “Safer Streets for All Act” to a boom in the sex-trafficking of children in California. Bonus: CPC's Lance Christensen discusses some 800 bills now turned into law, as Gavin Newsom force-feeds Californians already choking on regulation. Listen now. ([link removed])
More from CPC ()
** ICYMI: For Non-Partisan California Voters, Prop 50 is a Questionable Proposition
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For partisan Democrats and Republicans, deciding how to vote on Prop 50 may be simple, but for decline-to-state and third-party voters, as well as less passionate major party registrants, the choice will revolve around whether Prop 50 promotes good government. CPC visiting fellow Marc Joffe explains why, on this score, the measure fails badly. Read the article. ([link removed])
** Prop 50 Primer: Redistricting in California
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With Proposition 50 on the November ballot, many Californians are wondering what the ballot measure would do and how redistricting works. This CPC primer outlines California’s current redistricting system, traces how it developed through previous propositions, and explains the choice voters face in the special election. Read now. ([link removed])
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