California Ballot Measure Targets 200 Residents for 5% Wealth Levy

California voters head to the polls on November 3 to decide if the state's wealthiest residents must surrender a portion of their assets to shore up medical coverage.

Proposition 40 would levy a one-time 5% assessment on the net worth of the 200-plus billionaires residing in California. Proponents project the measure would generate $100 billion to offset federal reductions affecting the state's health infrastructure. Suzanne Jimenez, representing Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, described the proposal as a temporary fix, telling the BBC: "If we do nothing, we're going to see a collapse of our healthcare system, while we figure out a longer-term solution to fund our healthcare."

Opposition has surfaced from figures across the political and business spectrum. Governor Gavin Newsom, nearing the end of his tenure, cautioned that the tax could push high earners and their associated revenue to other states. Sergey Brin, a Google cofounder, has contributed more than $100 million to a political organization bankrolling ballot measures that could block the proposal. DoorDash cofounder Andy Fang called the measure "stupid". A September poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times and the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed 45% of likely voters supporting the plan, 42% opposing it, and 13% undecided; passage requires a simple majority.

Should voters approve the measure, it would reach back to include any individual holding at least $1 billion who maintained California residency as of January 1, 2026. At least six billionaires have already departed the state, including Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and former Uber chief Travis Kalanick. Don Hankey, founder of Hankey Group, told Forbes he relocated to Nevada because of the proposal, stating he felt unwanted despite the jobs his businesses created. Mark Zuckerberg informed Meta's board last month he was weighing a change in his primary residence, and the company has since structured a stock arrangement to offset the billions he might owe; his potential liability could reach $12.5 billion.

Other wealthy residents support the effort. "I don't mind paying taxes. The more you make, the more taxes you pay. I'm okay with that," Nvidia chief Jensen Huang told CBS. During a Los Angeles rally, Senator Bernie Sanders remarked that billionaires believe they have "a God-given right to rule" and predicted that "on November 3 they're going to learn a very powerful lesson".

Francesco Trebbi, a public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, stated he believes this represents the first billionaire tax, one targeting a very extreme percentile of the wealth distribution. He characterized the measure as driven by an "anti-elite, anti-system sentiment" and said it is "really not about Prop 40" but about trying to "re-balance the scale a little bit".