Bernie Sanders Protests Billionaire Tax in California

from Nigel DuaraCalMatters

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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a fiery warning to what he called the “billionaire class” at a rally Wednesday in Los Angeles in support of a tax initiative that would target California’s wealthiest residents.

“The billionaire class is no longer seen as part of American society,” said the Vermont independent, who won California’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary by 8 percentage points over former President Joe Biden. “They see themselves as something separate and apart, like the oligarchs of the 18th century, the kings, queens and kings, they believe they have a divine right to rule and are no longer subject to democratic rule.”

The initiative proposed in November would tax the net worth of billionaires in 2025 California residents at 5%, allowing them to pay off the tax over five years. Proceeds will go into a special fund with 90% reserved for health care and 10% reserved for K-12 education.

Rather than targeting income like most taxes, this one targets people’s accumulated wealth.

“They say there’s nothing you can do about it. Well, we’ve got bad news for them, starting right here in California,” Sanders told the crowd in Los Angeles.

He said California’s wealthiest people are preparing to spend big to defeat the initiative and voters should be prepared for deceptive messaging.

“Their ads aren’t going to say, ‘We’re billionaires, we want it all, please vote against this referendum,'” Sanders said to laughter from the crowd at The Wiltern theater. “They say, ‘If you oppose us, we will punish you.’

The Service Employees International Union – United Health Workers West and St. John’s Health Care in Los Angeles, sponsors of the proposal, are collecting signatures to put the measure on the November ballot amid opposition from some other unions.

It’s also a risky proposition for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hopes to run for president in 2028 and needs the support of Silicon Valley deep pockets with whom he has been close for years. He and the top Democrats running to replace him have come out against the tax as part of a larger opposition push that is expected to intensify in the coming weeks. They say they support making rich people pay more, but this particular measure will drive billionaires out of California.

That pushback will now include Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Kelly, who has pledged to introduce a bill this week in Congress, which would prohibit any state from imposing a retroactive tax on people who no longer live in the state.

Dr. Jaclyn Lasola, an obstetrician-gynecologist, said at Wednesday’s rally that the tax would help support staffing at hospitals that could be hit by an estimated $30 billion in annual cuts to federal Medicaid funds beginning in 2027.

“At a time when this administration is gutting our health care, our safety nets and our public services, we are here to protect Californians,” Lassola said. “It’s time to tax the billionaires.”

Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, played the band’s most famous song, “Killing In The Name Of,” but replaced the second half of the lyric: “Some of those who burn crosses / Are the same ones who hold office.”

There’s no doubt that California could use the money. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax reform and budget bill — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — is projected to cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over a decade.

California is expected to lose badly $30 billion in federal Medicaid funds annually as a result. The state agency Medi-Cal estimates that 3.4 million people will lose coverage as a result of federal eligibility changes. Most of the cuts won’t take effect until 2027, but states, including California, are already taking steps to shrink their health insurance programs for low-income and disabled people.

Opponents of the billionaire tax say the impact won’t be felt for years, but the state budget will be hit by the loss of the income tax billionaires pay, which makes up a significant portion of California’s revenue.

The opposition has coalesced around three proposed ballot measures designed to invalidate the proposed billionaire tax. One would ban retroactive taxes, the second would ban any taxes that exclude income from their calculation, and the third would exempt non-residents and part-time residents from net worth tax.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.