Californians vote Tuesday on whether to tax billionaires' net worth, a ballot measure that has split liberal leaders and drawn enormous spending from the ultra-rich.
asserted
that → vote → rich
The proposal, Proposition 40, would impose a one-time 5 per cent tax on Californians with net worths exceeding $1 billion (about £745 million).
asserted
proposal → impose → billion
Most of the revenue would go towards replacing federal funding cuts to healthcare.
asserted
Most → go → healthcare
If it passes, California would become the first state in the nation to tax billionaires' net worth.
asserted
California → pass → worth
The fight over the measure has become one of the most expensive ballot fights in state history, as the ultra-rich scramble to decide whether to pay the tax or flee.
asserted
rich → become → tax
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has framed the proposal as a monumental step toward reining in deep wealth inequality by ensuring the ultra-rich pay their fair share.
But Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom warns it would prompt the state's wealthiest to leave California and take their tax money with them.
asserted
it → frame → them
The campaign against the measure has raised roughly 10 times as much as the campaign for it.
asserted
campaign → raise → it
Much of that money has come from tech moguls and venture capitalists, who have poured millions into a political action committee fighting the measure.
asserted
who → come → measure
Billionaires are already bracing for its approval.
asserted
Billionaires → brace → approval
Some of them, including Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, started cutting ties with the state after the measure was unveiled.
asserted
measure → include → state
Mark Zuckerberg said he would stay in California for eight years and made a deal with Meta that would help him pay the tax without losing his ownership stake in the company.
asserted
him → say → company
The proposed tax is backed by the powerful labor union SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, whose supporters say it is needed to help the state backfill the federal funding cuts.
asserted
state → propose → cuts
The union estimates the state will lose $100 billion (about £75 billion) in federal healthcare funding over five years.
asserted
state → estimate → years
“It's time to collect those taxes so we can ensure that our healthcare system is still safe,” said Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions.
asserted
Gonzalez → collect → Unions
But some traditional Democratic allies, including Planned Parenthood and the California Teachers Association, are part of a coalition opposing it.
asserted
allies → include → it
They are concerned about how the tax revenue would be divvied up and about the potential impact on the state's budget if there's a mass exodus of wealthy taxpayers.
asserted
revenue → concern → taxpayers
California's budget relies heavily on the income tax of the state's richest residents.
asserted
budget → rely → residents
Californians are divided on the measure.
asserted
Californians → divide → measure
In a mid-October poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, likely voters were slightly more likely to oppose the measure than support it, with 52 per cent saying they would vote “no” and 46 per cent saying they would vote “yes.”
asserted
they → oppose → cent
That's an apparent shift from a PPIC survey conducted in early September, when 52 per cent of likely voters said they'd vote for the tax and 46 per cent said they'd vote against it.
asserted
they → conduct → it
Robert Swonger, an auto glass technician living near Sacramento who's politically independent, said he planned to vote against it.
asserted
he → live → it
“Obviously, I would like billionaires not to have as much money as they do,” he said.
asserted
he → like → money
“But I don't believe taxing them out of existence is going to work.”
asserted
taxing → believe → existence
Anthony Serrano, a Democrat living in Folsom who works for Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare plans, said he was leaning toward voting for the tax because he tends to support “anything that is a positive for healthcare.”
asserted
that → live → healthcare
Even if the measure wins approval from a majority of voters, it would be blocked from taking effect if at least one of two measures designed to nullify it, which are also on this year's ballot, passes and receives more “yes” votes.
asserted
which → win → votes
The proposals, which are backed by the political action committee Building a Better California, include a ban on new taxes on financial assets and other personal property, a category that excludes real estate.
asserted
that → back → estate
The committee has raised more than $333 million (about £248 million), about 30 per cent of it from Brin.
asserted
committee → raise → Brin
Progressive politicians, including Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have long supported a federal wealth tax.
asserted
politicians → include → tax
The Aporia
