Not only has Gov. Gavin Newsom vocally opposed the proposed California billionaire tax, but he also wants to prevent the state from ever passing a wealth tax in the future.
On Friday he endorsed Proposition 42, a ballot measure that would cancel out Proposition 40, the proposed billionaire tax. Prop. 42 would prohibit retroactive taxes like the one-time 5% tax on assets that would apply to any billionaire who lived in California on Jan. 1, 2026 if Prop. 40 passes.
But Prop. 42, funded and placed on the ballot by billionaire and Google co-founder Sergey Brin to defeat the billionaire tax, also would go further, by banning any new taxes on personal property.
That includes pensions and 401K accounts before retirees start drawing retirement income from them. It also includes other investments, financial assets, business holdings, art collections and all other forms of personal wealth that would be affected by the billionaire tax or any future wealth tax.
Newsom’s decision to support Prop. 42 runs counter to his own Democratic Party and some labor unions. It also aligns him with some of the wealthy tech donors with whom he’s maintained longstanding relationships dating back to his days as mayor of San Francisco.
I hear you, but don’t let the lack of a perfect solution be the enemy of progress. A one-time tax would still (theoretically) do some good, and not harm anybody. So long as those funds are properly allocated.
Prop 40 has a loop hole where they can tax everyone on assets if ca needs to. I’m against taxing assets in general. Tax actual income 80% for all I care for billionaires but taxing assets is full of legal issues. Who says what something is worth?
Don’t care. They need to pay it.
security backed loans are not taxed as income, and largely how the class pays for things.
Good for them for figuring out how to gain the system. Eventually they have to pay those loans
“Figuring out” how to game the system they rigged?
But yeah, you can’t live long by eating your own shit. So eventually they will have pay, one way or another.
Assets gains outpace interest rate on loan. They take out another securities backed loan to pay off first and pay for more stuff. They do this forever.
They don’t though.