California Voters Weigh 5% Wealth Tax and Two-Thirds Rule in 5 Tax Propositions
Updated
Updated · CalMatters · Aug 19
California Voters Weigh 5% Wealth Tax and Two-Thirds Rule in 5 Tax Propositions
3 articles · Updated · CalMatters · Aug 19
Summary
Five of California’s 14 statewide measures would decide who pays for local services, led by Proposition 40, a 5% levy on the personal wealth of about 200 billionaires.
Prop. 40 could become the first U.S. wealth tax, funding healthcare programs and likely triggering major legal fights as opponents push rival measures, Propositions 41 and 42, to blunt its effects.
Proposition 3 would make permanent a high-earner surtax now set to run through 2030, locking in roughly $5 billion to $15 billion a year after unions and allies moved it high on the ballot.
Proposition 43 would restore a two-thirds vote requirement for local special taxes proposed by initiative, reversing a 2020 court-backed simple-majority standard that has already enabled hundreds of tax increases.
Taken together, the measures revive California’s long-running tax battles and could again shape national debates, much as Proposition 13 did after 1978.