Proposition 40
Apply one-time tax to billionaires to fund healthcare and education
Proposition 40 would require the estimated 200 Californians whose net worth exceeded $1 billion at the start of this year to pay a one-time 5% tax. Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the group sponsoring the measure, projects that it would raise roughly $100 billion over five years. That money would be earmarked primarily for healthcare, with some reserved for food assistance and education. If propositions 41 or 42 earn more votes than Proposition 40, this measure would be nullified.
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Summary
Support
Supporters argue that the people who would pay the tax are the ones who benefited the most financially from recent federal tax reforms. Congress also cut tens of billions from Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California, which provides health insurance to low-income people. SEIU-UHW argues those cuts will cause hospitals and clinics to close, costing thousands of jobs and worsening access for all patients.
Oppose
Opponents include Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, business interests, and some health and labor organizations. They say the proposal will backfire, causing billionaires to leave California and decreasing tax revenue in the long run. Health groups say they weren’t consulted in designing the measure and that it does not solve the long-term fiscal challenges of funding healthcare. The same groups backed propositions 41 and 42, competing measures that would place limits on new special taxes.
People and organizations
Support
- Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West
- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Teamsters California
- AFSCME California
