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 that put the measure on the ballot, 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.
Endorsements
Support
- Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West
- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Teamsters California
- AFSCME California
- California Democratic Party
- California Labor Federation
Oppose
- California Business Roundtable
- California Medical Association
- California Teachers Association
- Planned Parenthood
- California Professional Firefighters
- State Building and Construction Trades
- Crypto executive Chris Larsen
- Venture capitalist Ron Conway
Media endorsements
Support
Commentary
Support
Campaign finance
Proposition committees raise money to support or oppose propositions. Outside groups can also raise and spend money independently to influence outcomes.
- Proposition committees
- Outside spending
- Difference to other side
Support
Oppose
Proposition committees
These committees are primarily formed to campaign for or against a proposition. They must identify contributors who give $100 or more, or loan a committee money. There are no limits on how much contributors can give or loan. Contributors who had their loans repaid or forgiven are still included. We exclude contributors who gave less than $100 in total. Contributors who made loans as part or all of their total are identified with an asterisk (*).
For funding by industry, we used existing sources, traditional machine learning and large language models to help categorize contributors who gave $5,000 or more in total, with CalMatters journalists reviewing the results. We also categorized the donors of political action committees that contributed to a campaign and used the results to calculate which industries should be applied. Major donors include individuals who self-identified as retired, self-employed, unemployed, a homemaker or a student.
Support
Oppose
Outside spending
Separate from proposition committees, outside groups can pay for ads, mailers and other efforts to influence voters. They can’t coordinate that spending with proposition committees. There is no limit on how much they can spend.
Support
Oppose
Video
Ballot text
IMPOSES ONE-TIME TAX ON CERTAIN TAXPAYERS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE. Imposes 5% tax on certain taxpayers with assets over $1 billion; revenue primarily for health care. Exempts revenues from constitutional requirements for school funding and spending limit. Fiscal Impact: Temporary revenue increase of tens of billions of dollars spread over several years from wealth tax on billionaires. Possible ongoing decrease of less than $1 billion per year in income tax revenue from billionaires.
Source: California Secretary of State
