California rejects billionaire wealth tax, DDHQ projects — The Hill

In California, voters have rejected Proposition 40 — an initiative to introduce a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaire wealth — according to a Decision Desk HQ projection. With 76% of votes counted, 54% of voters opposed the proposal and 46% supported it, The Hill reports.

How the funds were planned to be used

Proposition 40 would have introduced the first one-time tax on billionaires' wealth in the United States. Most of the revenue was planned for public healthcare programs, with the remainder intended for food assistance and educational initiatives.

Pre-election polls showed that opponents of the initiative outnumbered its supporters, although the result projection remained close. According to an estimate by the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, taxing the wealth of about 200 California billionaires could have generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue.

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Divisions among Democrats

The initiative divided California Democrats. The state Democratic Party, as well as the AFL-CIO and Teamsters unions, supported it. At the same time, California Governor Gavin Newsom opposed it, although he said he supported a federal tax on billionaires.

Newsom criticized the allocation of “almost all revenue” to healthcare, noting that the proposal did not provide funding for housing, childcare, public safety workers who respond to 911 calls, and public universities. California billionaires, including Silicon Valley company executives, lobbied for the initiative's rejection and contributed more than $333 million to the nonprofit organization Building a Better California.