California Billionaire Tax Proposal Has Enough Signatures to Land on Ballot

A California ballot initiative to impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ assets has gathered more than 1.5 million signatures, well above the 870,000 needed to qualify for the November ballot. The measure, backed by the Service Employees International Union, would use the revenue to backfill federal Medicaid cuts signed by President Trump. Silicon Valley executives have poured $93 million into defeating the ballot initiative. Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin has emerged as the measure’s leading opponent, spending $57 million against it and relocating to Nevada before a December 31 deadline to escape the billionaire tax. The New York Times reports that at a holiday party last December, Brin cornered Governor Gavin Newsom and demanded he oppose the measure. The following month, Governor Newsom publicly pledged to defeat it.