After months of campaigning for unique retroactivity California wealth taxthe union-led effort is now moving to the next stage.
The Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) said it has collected more than 1.55 million signatures, according to a press release, nearly double the 875,000 signatures required – to impose a one-time tax on billionaires’ assets on the California ballot.
The California Billionaire Tax Act would target the net worth of approximately 200 residents and impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents with assets exceeding $1 billion. The tax would be due in 2027 and taxpayers could spread payments over five years, with interest, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
If the measure is approved by voters in November, anyone who was a California resident as of Jan. 1, 2026, would owe the tax, according to the proposal. Concretely, a resident with a net worth of $20 billion on that date would be liable for a one-off tax of $1 billion, payable over five years.
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Supporters argue that the tax is a direct response to the Trump administration’s “cuts to Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs last year.”
Attendees applaud during a speech by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act in Los Angeles, Feb. 18, 2026. (Getty Images)
“Most Californians and billionaires recognize how reasonable and necessary this proposal is, both to keep emergency rooms open and to prevent California businesses from closing,” Suzanne Jimenez, SEIU-UHW chief of staff, said in a press release.
“A very small group of the planet’s most controversial billionaires tried to stop Californians from saving their local emergency rooms and hospitals – but our current tally proves that front-line health care workers will prevail in bringing this common-sense proposal to voters,” she continued. “When our growing coalition submits these signatures, David will have won the first round against Goliath, but health care workers and our allies will not give up until we fully protect our patients from the impending health care disaster that will be caused by $100 billion in health care cuts in California.”
SEIU-UHW did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Opponents of the measure have warned that the tax could eliminate about 108,000 good-paying jobs over the next 20 years, the New York Times reported Sunday. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom even acknowledged that the state’s proposed wealth tax it’s bad economicspreviously saying he felt justified in opposing the proposal after reports showed some of California’s wealthiest residents were moving money and businesses out of the state, warning the measure would hurt the economy and drive away investment.
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Although the Legislative Analyst’s Office predicts a temporary increase in liquidity, it warns against a “continuous decrease in state tax revenues of several hundred million dollars or more each year,” as billionaires flee the state in response.
Public figures who moved their residence or business out of California before the Jan. 1 retroactive tax deadline include Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Steven Spielberg, Uber’s Travis Kalanick and auto loan mogul Don Hankey.
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