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)

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)