Yes on Prop 40

[Brad Forschner]

A “yes” vote supports this initiative to levy a one-time 5% tax on the accumulated wealth of taxpayers and trusts with covered assets valued over $1 billion, including shares of capital stock, bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, and any legal or equitable interest, to fund state health care programs, food assistance programs, and public education.

 

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-17):

“It’s a matter of values. We believe billionaires can pay a modest wealth tax so working-class Californians have Medicaid.”

Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff for SEIU-UHW:

“Healthcare workers are going to the ballot to prevent California hospitals and emergency rooms from closing. Congress created a $100 billion crisis for California through HR1 last July — and California voters will solve that problem when they pass the billionaire tax act this November.”

Alex Skopic, associate editor of Current Affairs:

“Ordinary people are taxed this way all the time: as Nina Turner recently pointed out, a property tax on the value of your house is also a tax on ‘unrealized gains,’ because you haven’t actually sold the house and received the money. Pretending that houses are fair game, but mammoth stock portfolios and Caravaggios aren’t, is just incoherent.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I):

“It should be common sense that the billionaires pay just slightly more so that entire communities can preserve access to life-saving medical care. Our country needs access to hospitals and emergency rooms, not more tax breaks for billionaires.”

Tony Thurmond, California Superintendent of Public Instruction and gubernatorial candidate:

“This emergency measure to save our hospitals, clinics, and healthcare facilities is critical. Without the billionaire tax, California hospitals and ERs will close, healthcare costs will skyrocket, and patients will be forced to drive further, and wait longer, for medical care. That’s not a sacrifice anyone should be asked to make. I’m proud to join with doctors and healthcare workers to support a commonsense one-time tax on our state’s wealthiest 200 billionaires so everyone has access to care when they need it most.”

Emmanuel Saez, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, and Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the Paris School of Economics:

“From 2019 to 2025, California billionaires’ wealth grew an average of over 15 percent per year, while they paid, on average, just 0.26 percent of their wealth annually in state income taxes. Their income tax payments accounted for only 2.4 percent of California’s income tax revenue.”

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