Proposition 40: California One-Time Wealth Tax for State-Funded Healthcare, Education, and Food Assistance Programs Initiative

Prop 40 is a one-time 5% emergency wealth tax on billionaires in the state, raising 100 billion dollars to fund healthcare and education. This measure was created after Medicaid funds were taken away from Californians by the federal government (called “Medi-Cal” in California). It is vital that this passes so that millions of working-class people don't lose their healthcare.

Most Californians–about 39,355,109 of us— are not billionaires and never will be. Meanwhile, millions of us are on the brink of losing our health insurance or food stamps as Washington makes drastic cuts and changes to Medicare, Medicaid, in-home support for disabled people, and SNAP benefits. Even if you’re not impacted by those programs directly, we’re all feeling it: Insurance costs are going up for everyone across the board.  Hospitals and clinics across the state, faced with rising numbers of newly uninsured, under-insured, and very sick people, are at risk of closing, and the cash-strapped emergency departments that remain will be overwhelmed.  The dominos are falling, and nobody is safe if the entire health care system collapses.  We’re staring down a massive crisis, leaving us to wonder: who can actually step up and help?

Proposition 40 offers a pretty straightforward answer: billionaires! California billionaires got t-shirt cannoned with tax cuts from Trump at the same time the administration gutted the safety net. At a time when the rich keep getting richer while everyone else struggles to keep afloat, a billionaire tax is a great idea.

Prop. 40 would ask the state’s estimated 200 (https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/proposition-40-billionaire-tax/) billionaires to pay a one-time 5% tax on their enormous wealth (a minimum of $50 million apiece, leaving them more than enough for generations) while raising tens of billions to offset the drastic cuts from Trump’s “Big Beautiful (cough BULLSHIT) Bill.” The tax money would go toward things California families and communities depend on, like health care, hospitals and emergency rooms, schools and community colleges, and food assistance. The tax wouldn’t touch everyday taxpayers or small business owners or even multi-millionaires, and it wouldn’t even apply to the annual income or primary property of billionaires. Prop 40 simply asks those who have “earned” such Scrooge McDuck-scale fortunes within California’s economy to toss a modest, one-time lifeline back to the public infrastructure and systems that they “definitely didn’t exploit (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/04/workers-medicaid-snap-low-pay)” in pursuit of their success.

Critics say that if Prop 40 passes, the ultra-rich—who, by the way, already use complicated schemes to avoid paying taxes the way regular people have to—will just move their money out of the state. But it’s kind of a moot argument, since the tax is retroactive, and would apply to billionaires who were living in the state as of January 1, 2026.

And while it’s true two of the most ridiculously rich guys, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, claim to have left  California because of high taxes, their billionaire buddy Jensen Huang has doubled down on his commitment to California, saying he’s “perfectly fine (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/07/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-perfectly-fine-with-proposed-billionaire-tax.html)” with a wealth tax if it means he can continue to reap the rewards of doing business here. The doom-mongering of Newsom and other critics who fuss that if the wealth is taxed, job loss and economic catastrophe will follow seems unsupported by evidence (https://www.sup.org/books/sociology/myth-millionaire-tax-flight). And besides, if the wealth-tax movement continues to grow alongside Republicans’ decimation of public services, we suspect other states will be doing the same thing soon, anyway. 

Reasonable voters have expressed concern that this billionaire tax is just a one-time tax and won’t solve ongoing inequality. OK, but why should that stop us from raising money for the state’s most crucial services now?

Passing Prop 40 is not only the logical and moral thing to do, it would also send a loud and clear message to billionaires: You need to finally pay your fair share, and you can’t spend $50 million in attack ads to buy your way out of it. Let’s get this passed as a first step to a national wealth tax! Vote Hell Yes! on Prop 40!

Source (https://www.theleaguesf.org/#Prop40)

TAX THE RICH! That's right - Prop 40, the billionaire tax, has succesfully qualified for the ballot, due to the efforts of numerous unions and advocacy groups, including the work of DSA San Diego. This ballot measure calls for a one-time, 5% emergency wealth tax on California's billionaires in order to fund and prevent the collapse of our healthcare system. The passing of this measure would set a new precedence - proving that the working class is ready to force billionaires to pay their fair share. Vote YES on Prop 40!

Levies a one-time 5% tax on accumulated wealth of taxpayers and trusts with covered assets over $1 billion. These funds would go toward health care programs, food assistance, and public education.
Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All states: “Those who are rich and those who are poor are called into relationships of generosity from which each can benefit” p. 11.

Billionaire wealth tax (we helped gather sigs for this)

Source (https://www.sfgreenparty.org/endorsements/123-november-2026-endorsements)

Federal cuts will strip $100 billion from healthcare in California over the next five years—resulting in higher premiums and loss of coverage for millions of Californians. Services at local hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes will face draconian cuts or close. To stop the healthcare collapse in the state, Prop 40 would impose a one-time tax of up to 5% on taxpayers with covered assets over $1 billion, generating $100 billion in revenue over 5 years. Ninety percent (90%) of the funds would go to healthcare, and 10% to food assistance or education. Vote Yes on Prop 40.

California Church IMPACT recommends a YES vote

There is no precedent for this initiative — no state has ever attempted to impose a wealth tax on its richest residents. Still, the elements are worth walking through.

If passed, this would impose a one-time 5% levy on wealth over $1 billion — for individuals, trusts, and other holdings, including personal property such as artwork — payable with 2026 taxes due in 2027. The revenue would fund health care and education for the state’s lowest-income families and individuals: 90% to health, 10% to education.

Much of the federal deficit traces to the large tax cuts given to top earners. Spending was supposed to fall in response but didn’t — instead, programs for people in need were cut: Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), SNAP, and other food assistance. Those safety-net programs weren’t the drivers of rising federal debt; war spending, subsidies for the wealthy, and other factors have kept spending high even as tax cuts reduced revenue.

There is currently no proposed budget for basic safety-net programs beyond this year, and California is already seeing cuts: the state, along with a few others, is having Medicaid funds withheld over disputed fraud claims. As the wealthiest state in the nation, California is home to many beneficiaries of those federal tax cuts — some of whom pay little or no tax at all. Whether a wealth tax would drive billionaires to leave is uncertain; many have long used transfer pricing, moving assets across jurisdictions to reduce tax liability, meaning much of the taxable wealth may already be beyond the state’s reach. That’s a structural challenge of state-level taxation in a federal system.

The bigger problem with this measure may be constitutional: it could function as a retroactive tax, applying back to January 1, 2026, on wealth accumulated before the tax existed. Ex post facto laws are generally unconstitutional — conduct legal when it occurred typically can’t be penalized retroactively, even in civil matters. This would likely be resolved in court.

Despite those drawbacks, supporters point to a principle of equity: those with the most wealth bear a proportionally greater responsibility. The U.S. has never operated as a pure free market — policy choices have long shaped wealth accumulation at the top, which is part of why the country adopted a graduated tax system in the first place. Some frame this in moral or religious terms, citing the principle “from those to whom much is given, much is required.”

Given the practical and legal hurdles, supporters argue the measure is worth attempting as a remedy for growing inequality. Recommend a YES vote

Source (https://churchimpact.org/index.php/2026/09/08/proposition-40-one-time-wealth-tax-for-state-funded-health-care-programs-initiative/)

VOTE YES ON PROP 40 Proposition 40 would issue a one-time 5% tax on taxpayers who have accumulated wealth and covered assets, including trusts, capital stock, and bonds, in excess of $1 billion. This measure would make the tax retroactive to billionaires who lived in the state on January 1, 2026, and would allow the tax to be paid across five equal installments starting in 2027. The taxes, and any subsequent interest, would be deposited into a newly created Billionaire Tax Reserve Fund, with 90% designated for health care, and 10% designated for education and food assistance. Revenues are expected to be between $40 and $100 billion over the five-year life of the tax, and would be used to fund Medi-Cal and other health coverage for 15 million Californians, access to CalFresh, CalFAP, CalFood, and public education initiatives for K–12 and community college systems.

Pass one-time tax on billionaires to backfill Trump cuts to healthcare and hospitals.

Source (https://www.eapd.la/endorsements)

YES on Proposition 40: We want California to fund more public services with more tax revenue, and it’s long past time for those with the most wealth—billionaires—to contribute some of it in tax. Prop 40 would tax 5% of every billionaire’s wealth. We need to do this at least once; Prop 40 would be a great start.

Source (https://indivisiblesf.org/endorsements)

YES ON PROP 40: Billionaire Tax

Charges billionaires a one-time 5% wealth tax to fund healthcare, schools, and food assistance for low-income Californians.

Source (https://www.repsf.org/blog/repsf-voter-guide-nov-2026)

PROP 40 saves our healthcare system from the Trump administration’s devastating $100 BILLION cuts to California public services. It is a one-time tax that asks the wealthiest Californians to pay their fair share.

Prop 40 would levy a one-time 5% wealth tax on individuals with over $1 billion in assets (a little over 220 people in California) in order to offset the loss of almost $100 billion in federal funding for Medi-Cal due to cuts from HR1 (the “big beautiful bill”). In the absence of alternate funding, hospitals across the state will face closures, healthcare workers will be laid off, our most vulnerable neighbors will face increasing challenges to get the care they need, and mortality rates will rise. California DSA has endorsed a Yes vote.

Prop 40: No (Billionaire Tax)

Prop 40 is a one-time tax collected to fund programs that run forever, and the money is smaller and less certain than the campaign claims. The Legislative Analyst's Office expects tens of billions of dollars, not the campaign's $100B (https://lao.ca.gov/ballot/2026/prop40-110326.pdf), plus an ongoing loss of income tax revenue of less than $1B per year as wealthy taxpayers leave. Six billionaires already left (https://fortune.com/2026/03/17/6-billionaires-left-california-billionaire-tax-newsom-brin-page-thiel-spielberg-revenue/) before the residency date arrived, taking an estimated $27B of the projected haul with them along with the yearly income taxes we no longer get. The federal Medicaid cuts are real and hospitals do need the money, which is exactly why they need money that will actually arrive.

The money may also show up late or never. No state has taxed net worth this way, and the measure schedules its own court fight (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/san-francisco-voter-guide-november-2026-election/measures/prop-40/legal-text/#prop-40-expedited-review) to run into late 2027. A clinic cannot make payroll with revenue that is tied up in court.

You do not have to take our word for it. The California Teachers Association, Planned Parenthood, the California Medical Association, and the state's hospitals (https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-unions-billionaire-tax-ballot/), the groups this money is supposed to rescue, oppose it, and so does Governor Newsom (https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/01/billionaires-tax-health-funding/). This same ballot carries a durable alternative we endorse: Prop 3 (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/san-francisco-voter-guide-november-2026-election/measures/prop-3/), which keeps the existing tax rates on high earners. Fund health care with money that shows up. Vote no on Prop 40, and yes on Prop 3.

Source (https://growsf.org/voter-guide/san-francisco-voter-guide-november-2026-election#prop-40)

California YIMBY is taking a formal position against Proposition 40, the One-Time Wealth Tax (California Billionaire Tax Act or “CBTA”) on the November ballot. For an organization built around housing, that may look like a detour. It isn’t, and we want our members to understand exactly why. TL;DR: While we believe taxes are good – they’re the price of living in a society, and we generally need more of them – poorly-designed taxes are bad, and can lead to both economic and political harm.

No on Prop 40: “Billionaire” Tax that Is Really an “Everybody” Tax

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Source (https://www.reformcalifornia.org/voter-guides/san-diego)

NO on Prop. 40

This is the “wealth tax,” supposedly affecting only billionaires but in fact a threat to every California taxpayer and homeowner. Proposition 40 imposes a “one-time tax” of 5% of “covered assets” valued above $1 billion. However, the measure includes language that allows the Legislature to rewrite the law later, potentially changing the thresholds, the assets that are covered, the percentage to be taken, and the number of times the tax would be levied. This is an entirely new type of tax, and we don’t know where it will lead. Will all Californians have to submit forms to the Franchise Tax Board declaring their assets every year? How much will ordinary Californians have to pay for “wealth tax preparation” to comply with this law?

Vote NO on 40.

Source (https://www.hjta.org/2026votingguide#Ballot-Measure-Recommendations)

Imposes a one-time tax of up to 5% on certain wealth above $1 billion, with most proceeds directed to health care and additional funding for food assistance, education and administration. CADC opposes Prop. 40 because taxing unrealized wealth and difficult-to-value assets could be administratively complicated and could encourage high-income residents and entrepreneurs to relocate, potentially reducing California's future income-tax base. The committee also objected to exempting the new revenue from the state's constitutional spending limit.

CADC 認為對未實現收益及難以估值的資產徵收財富稅執行複雜，並可能促使高收入人士及企業家遷離加州、長遠削弱所得稅稅基，因此反對提案 40。

Source (https://www.sfcadc.org/11_2026_propositions)

Prop 40 - Asset Seizure (Billionaires Now, YOU later)

Endorsement: NO on Proposition 40

Ahhh, the “Billionaire Tax.” It’s really an asset seizure dishonestly called a tax, targeting one group today, with political provisions to expand it (to you!) tomorrow. (See legal text, pg 26 (https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/initiatives/pdfs/25-0024A1%20%28Billionaire%20Tax%20%29.pdf)).

The government should not be free to seize citizens’ assets. It undermines the American Dream, capitalism, and entrepreneurship. It’s also likely unconstitutional. If this passes, the measure is likely to face expensive constitutional challenges, meaning tax dollars spent in court rather than on services.

We risk driving entrepreneurs, innovators, and taxpayers out of California. California has already lost an estimated $1 trillion in assets (https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/california-billionaire-tax-proposal-hemorrhages-1-trillion-billionaires-flee) (which translates to $50B (5% of $1T) in “wealth taxes”) , since this proposition was advanced. You can thank the authors of this measure for fewer services and a higher deficit going forward.

Stop the bleeding now.

Source (https://www.connectedsf.com/2026-voter-guide#prop-40)

Proposition 40: Imposes a One-Time Tax on Billionaires – NO. Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on California residents with net worth above $1 billion. Real estate, pensions, and retirement accounts generally would be excluded. Ninety percent of the revenue would be reserved for public health care, with the remainder for education, food assistance, and administration. We understand the appeal of asking billionaires to contribute more toward urgent needs. But this measure offers a one-time payday while creating a real risk that wealthy taxpayers move their money – or themselves – out of state, reducing ongoing revenue and threatening jobs and services for years. The Legislative Analyst estimates that the ongoing revenue reduction could be less than $1 billion per year. Job losses, service cuts, and economic instability land hardest on Black and Brown workers and families. We cannot support a proposal whose potential long-term consequences could disproportionately harm the communities we represent. Vote No.

Source (https://cahinaacp.org/our-vote-our-voice-where-we-stand-on-every-2026-ballot-measure)

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Proposition 40: Imposes One-Time Tax on Certain Individuals and Trusts. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute
C.A.R. Position:  AGAINST [OPPOSE]The so-called “billionaire tax” would impose a one-time tax of up to 5 percent on Californians and trusts holding more than $1 billion in assets such as businesses, stocks, art, and intellectual property. Real property is excluded. Most of the revenue would go to health care. The Legislative Analyst projects an ongoing loss of hundreds of millions of dollars a year in state income tax revenue.

Source (https://www.car.org/en/advocacy/legislation/stategovernmentaffairs/Ballot-Measures)

Recommends to vote "No"

Taxation is theft, libertarian thinkers have long asserted, and Proposition 40 on the November ballot contains nothing that proves them wrong.

The measure known as the Billionaire Tax Act would amend the state constitution to override existing limits on taxing and spending in order to make possible a one-time, 5% tax on the wealth of Californians with a net worth of more than $1 billion. 

The proceeds from the tax would be directed into a special fund, and 90% of the revenue would have to be spent on health care services.

Unsurprisingly, the backer of this measure is a union of health care workers who provide those services. 

The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) has a long history of filing initiatives as bargaining chips for negotiations to advance the interests of the union. 

This includes initiatives to limit the pay of hospital executives, cap prices at clinics, and tax a hospital in the L.A. County city of Lynwood. Another such measure from the union targeting community health clinics it wants to unionize, Proposition 44, is also on the ballot this November. 

Despite spending more than $40 million on such campaigns through 2020, there were “no wins on the ballot,” CalMatters observed, though union president Dave Regan said the efforts made progress in other ways as he worked to expand membership in his union. 

If the Billionaire Tax Act was intended as a bargaining chip to be withdrawn later, things didn’t work out as planned. It’s on the ballot and it might pass, doing serious damage to California’s budget, economy and job creation for years to come.

SEIU-UHW says the tax will bring in $100 billion to fill the hole the union believes the federal government has created with “cuts” to health care funding. However, economists at the Stanford University-based Hoover Institution caution that after accounting for billionaires who have already left and the long-term repercussions of more of them leaving, Prop. 40’s one-time wealth tax would not only collect less than the $100 billion hoped for, but in the long-run would reduce tax revenues as billionaire investors take their money elsewhere. 

Prop. 40’s supporters say these warnings are mere propaganda. But consider the experience of other countries that have attempted wealth taxes. Consider a 2018 report (https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-role-and-design-of-net-wealth-taxes-in-the-oecd_9789264290303-en.html) from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a multinational organization representing 38 developed nations. The OECD notes that while 12 OECD member countries had wealth taxes on the books in 1990, by 2017 that number plummeted to just four. Revenues from net wealth taxes, it turned out, “have also, with a few exceptions, been very low.”

Consider also the message that passage of Prop. 40 would send to not only current but future entrepreneurs and innovators. Allowing a cynical union to pilfer the wealth of California’s most successful entrepreneurs would have a chilling effect on investment. California may have nice weather, but Prop. 40 risks making the tax and business climate even less hospitable. 

Another concern is the inevitable demand for more. The money from the one-time tax will run out within five years. Proposition 40 empowers the Legislature to change the Billionaire Tax Act with a two-thirds vote in each house. Beyond that, the Legislature could enact a much broader wealth tax once the mechanism for collecting it is established. 

Regardless of where one sits on the political spectrum, there’s very little to like about this measure and plenty to worry about. It’s an aggressive money grab that could sink California’s progressive budget. It pursues short-term aims despite the long-term consequences. And it comes from the same obnoxious union that repeatedly attacked dialysis clinics and is now threatening community health clinics with closure if Prop. 44 passes.

Proposition 40 is a reckless tax proposed by a special interest group that wants to obtain funding to benefit its members. Vote no.

Source (https://www.dailynews.com/2026/09/13/endorsement-no-on-proposition-40s-reckless-wealth-tax/)

Prop 40 is deceptive, and first-in-the-nation “Wealth Tax”, being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax"! But BILLIONARES are just the initial “BAIT”! In reality, it is an "Everybody Tax!"

PROP 40 is a “permanent” Constitutional Amendment that contains wording that can be EXPANDED to extend to EVERYONE, “without another public vote!”

The “ONE-TIME TAX” collection WILL expire, but the SPENDING WON’T! When it runs out , it will need to be EXPANDED. No limits here.

This 1-time tax will do little to help CA. And will drive out CA’s wealthy, which CA needs for revenue. A study by Stanford University economists found the tax will cost CA $25 billion, as the tax drives companies and wealthy residents out-of-state. Exodus has already started. VOTE “NO” on Prop 40.

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

Prop 40 is deceptively being sold as the "Billionaire's Tax" but it is really the "Everybody Tax!" Worse, Prop 40 creates the first-in-the-nation Wealth Tax (or Savings Tax) on Californians. Prop 40 contains a provision allowing state politicians to expand the Wealth Tax to everyone without another vote of the public. Prop 40 allows government to tax the value of your savings, checking account, 401k, stock portfolio, and current equity in your home. If you don't have the cash to pay the Wealth Tax, then you'd be forced to sell some of what you own.

This is called a "BILLIONAIRE" Tax but is actually a WEALTH TAX that potentially threatens all of us! (see additional info on Prop 40 below)

Here's extended info on WHY to Vote NO on Prop 40:

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association on Prop 40:

"This is the 'wealth tax,' supposedly affecting only billionaires but in fact a threat to every California taxpayer and homeowner. Proposition 40 imposes a 'one-time tax' of 5% of 'covered assets' valued above $1 billion. However, the measure includes language that allows the Legislature to rewrite the law later, potentially changing the thresholds, the assets that are covered, the percentage to be taken, and the number of times the tax would be levied. This is an entirely new type of tax, and we don't know where it will lead. Will all Californians have to submit forms to the Franchise Tax Board declaring their assets every year? How much will ordinary Californians have to pay for 'wealth tax preparation' to comply with this law?"

SD Taxpayers opposes Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time 5 percent tax on the net worth of Californians worth more than $1 billion and direct most of the revenue to state health care programs. Three structural problems drive the position: a one-time, asset-price-dependent revenue source is pledged against ongoing Medi-Cal obligations, the tax base is concentrated in roughly 200 highly mobile taxpayers, and unresolved valuation and legal questions could delay or reduce what the measure actually collects.

Source (https://sdtaxpayers.org/policy-reports-main/2026/9/2/taxpayers-opposes-proposition-40-one-time-wealth-tax-for-state-funded-healthcare-education-and-food-assistance-programs-initiative)

"Billionaire Tax" would run off more employers

Source (https://svgop.com/s/SVGOP-2026-Gen-Election-Endorsements.pdf)

Vote No Prop 40:

Imposes a One-Time Wealth Tax

Taxes billionaire wealth once, but does not create new permanent funding for IHSS or child care.

Source (https://www.udw.org/vote#ballot)