Billionaires Outspend Backers on California Wealth Tax

California voters decide on November 3 whether to impose a one-time 5 percent tax on the assets of the state's billionaires. Spending against the measure has made it the most expensive ballot measure ever and one of the costliest campaigns of this midterm, according to Sonoma State University political scientist David McCuan.

Donors including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, DoorDash's Tony Xu, Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison, Ripple's Chris Larsen and venture capitalists John Doerr, Michael Moritz and Vinod Khosla have given more than $300m to block it. Supporters have raised only $32m. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has not donated, but company filings showed he told Meta's board, which includes Xu and Collison, that he would buy a home outside California to avoid the tax. The board created a new class of shares he could use to pay it.

Flyers, ads and misinformation

Brian Galle, a University of California, Berkeley economist who helped write the proposal, recently found a flyer in his mailbox saying things he had not written, including that the tax can hit anyone and even retirement savings. Ashley Craig, a volunteer for the group Patriotic Millionaires, says voters often tell her the measure has secret provisions that would tax everyone. Any change to the tax would need a two-thirds majority in the assembly and would have to stay true to its spirit.

Craig also said the state Democratic party, which has endorsed the measure, has not given ground support. McCuan attributes this to a rift between progressives, who favour the idea, and moderates. Governor Gavin Newsom opposes the tax, calling it "poorly written", as do gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Katie Porter.

Rival measures and polls

Opponents have also backed a ballot measure barring new state taxes on personal property or imposed retroactively, and another asking state auditors to review proposed tax measures before a vote. If either passes with more votes than the billionaire tax, it could cancel the tax even if voters approve it.

A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll found voters back the tax by a small margin, but also back the two opposing measures. Pollster Mark Baldassare noted that only about a third of citizen initiatives pass. Suzane Jiminez of the SEIU health workers union, which sponsored the measure, said: "We are feeling confident that we will have the votes." She said 3,000 volunteers have been knocking on doors, and Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Ro Khanna have rallied for the measure.

Source: Al Jazeera