California’s proposed billionaire tax: what you need to know

The proposed billionaire tax in California is officially heading to voters’ ballots in November. After getting more than double the necessary signatures to qualify, the secretary of state certified the ballot measure late on Thursday. The confirmation came after backroom dealing didn’t pan out between California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who opposes the proposal, and the labor union backing it. While the wealth tax would only apply to individual billionaires living in California, the idea of passing a tax on the ultra-rich has become a national issue. Prominent political figures on the left, such as the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, have championed the state measure, saying it could pave the way for a similar tax on the federal level. “Never before have so few people had so much wealth and so much power,” Sanders said during a February speech supporting the initiative in Los Angeles. “These billionaires are going to learn that we are still living in a democratic society where the people have some power.” But the measure’s backers are going to have to contend with powerful opponents to the initiative, including Newsom and Silicon Valley billionaires. The tech and crypto industry are throwing in tens of millions of dollars – in what’s expected to add up to unprecedented campaign spending – to oppose the initiative. So that means a messy fight is about to get a lot messier. …