California Billionaire Tax Moves Closer to November Ballot

California voters are closer to getting their say on a proposed billionaire tax after the initiative qualified for the Nov. 3 general election ballot, despite the opposition of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The proposal, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on a billionaire’s net worth, is now officially eligible for the ballot, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said late Wednesday.

“The initiative needed at least 962,106 projected valid signatures to become eligible by random sampling, and it has exceeded that threshold today,” she said in a statement. It will be on the ballot “unless it is withdrawn by the proponent prior to certification” on June 25, she added. The proponent of the bill is Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff of the SEIU-UHW health care workers’ union.

Gov. Newsom, however, has assured opponents of the measure that it will never reach voters, Bloomberg News reported June 15. Newsom has lined up support from groups like the California branch of Planned Parenthood and the state’s largest teachers’ union to oppose the tax.

Newsom, a possible 2028 presidential hopeful, told an important Democratic donor that the billionaire tax would be negotiated away before the June 25 deadline, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the call who asked not to be named discussing a private conversation.