{"id":26153,"date":"2026-08-03T14:30:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26153"},"modified":"2026-08-03T14:30:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:30:43","slug":"california-democratic-party-endorses-prop-40-billionaire-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=26153","title":{"rendered":"California Democratic Party endorses Prop. 40 billionaire tax"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>The controversial billionaire tax won the backing of the California Democratic Party on Sunday, the latest twist in the drama surrounding a measure that has roiled the left and its allies.<\/p>\n<p>The party\u2019s executive board voted Sunday to endorse Proposition 40, which, if approved by voters in November, would impose a 5% one-time tax on billionaires\u2019 assets to pay for healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>The measure has proved divisive. Although it has support from progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), others including Gov. Gavin Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, and a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-07-30\/labor-organizers-spearheading-california-billionaire-tax-rebuffed-by-parent-union\"><u>growing list of labor unions<\/u><\/a> have come out against it, arguing the one-time nature of the tax and billionaire flight could cause more harm than good to California\u2019s state budget.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis endorsement puts to rest the idea that California Democrats are not united by the billionaire tax \u2014 they are,\u201d said Dave Regan, president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the labor union that gathered enough signatures to put Proposition 40 on the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Regan cited an internal poll that found more than 80% of registered Democrats support the tax, \u201cand now the Democratic Party of California has officially embraced that strong support through this endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Public opinion polls have shown the measure with slim majority support. According to <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ppic.org\/publication\/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-may-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\">a May poll<\/a> from the Public Policy Institute of California, 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats said they would vote for the tax.<\/p>\n<p>Proposition 40 seeks to raise $100 billion over a five-year span to backfill cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Trump last year. Its supporters argue that the federal tax cuts benefit the wealthy at the expense of low-income people and that Proposition 40 would reverse the damage.<\/p>\n<p>Its opponents, which include the California Teachers Assn. and tech founders spending millions to defeat the measure, argue it could destabilize the state budget \u2014 which already taxes wealthy earners at higher rates \u2014 by pushing billionaires to leave California for other states.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, the No on Prop. 40 campaign said Newsom, Becerra and organizations including the California Professional Firefighters union and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California oppose the tax \u201cbecause it\u2019s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future. We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democratic executive board members endorsed the measure Sunday during a meeting in San Diego. The party also voted to oppose two competing ballot measures that seek to undercut the billionaire tax, along with a voter ID measure and a proposal to weaken the California Environmental Quality Act for housing and infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats voted to endorse two housing bonds \u2014 a $11.25-billion bond to build affordable housing and a $25-billion down payment assistance program \u2014 and an $8.4-billion immunology research bond. <\/p>\n<p>The party is also supporting a measure to make permanent an existing tax on high-income earners that funds education and healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery endorsement we make is earned, not given,\u201d California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement. \u201cCalifornia Democrats take a deliberative approach to our endorsement process that puts our values first and ensures our members have a meaningful voice in shaping the future of our state.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The controversial billionaire tax won the backing of the California Democratic Party on Sunday, the latest twist in the drama surrounding a measure that has roiled the left and its allies. The party\u2019s executive board voted Sunday to endorse Proposition 40, which, if approved by voters in November, would impose a 5% one-time tax on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/4289a8a\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5000x2625+0+354\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb4%2F57%2F5b2edaa24a94b175103d43ec1e02%2F1552448-me-billionaire-tax-03.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}