On this edition of Your Call, we discuss why Prop 40 failed, which would have funded GOP Medicaid cuts, and whether the push to tax the wealthy will move to the 2028 ballot or Washington DC.
California voters rejected Proposition 40, which would have imposed a first-in-the-nation, one-time five percent tax on billionaires’ wealth to offset GOP health care cuts. Opponents, led by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, spent at least $378 million to defeat it, making it one of the most expensive ballot measure fights in state history. Voters also appear to have passed Prop 42, a countermeasure that writes a ban on new wealth taxes into the state constitution.
But voters did not reject taxing the wealthy altogether. They approved Prop 3, which makes permanent an existing income tax surcharge on the state’s highest earners to fund education.
Guests:
Kristen Hwang, health reporter for CalMatters
David Gamage, Professor of Tax Law & Policy at the University of Missouri School of Law and co-author of Proposition 40
Chris Hoene, executive director of the California Budget & Policy Center
John Fensterwald, staff writer at EdSource
Resources:
CalMatters: California voters reject Prop. 40 billionaire tax
CalMatters: California billionaires faced down a tax and won new protections for their wealth
EdSource: Split decision on taxing the wealthy: Prop. 3 winning, Prop. 40 losing
EdSource: California Prop. 40 billionaire tax has failed; backers vow to try again
California Budget & Policy Center: California Budget & Policy Center Statement on the Outcome of Tax Measures on the November Ballot
