The opposition campaign against Proposition 40, a ballot initiative regarding a one-time wealth tax that will go before California voters next month, spent more than $1 million a day fighting it in the first half of September, according to new reporting from the Guardian. Refresher: The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West introduced the Prop 40 initiative last year to recoup $100 billion for healthcare after the Trump administration cut federal health insurance funding by nearly $1 trillion with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. - The measure asks whether there should be a one-time tax on billionaires equal to 5% of their wealth. The initiative would bring in an anticipated $100 billion, 90% of which is earmarked for healthcare, over five years.
It’s going down to the wireSeveral former tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists formed the Building a Better California nonprofit specifically to try to beat Prop 40. It’s led by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. There are less obvious detractors, too. And that’s who the opposition is leaning into to make its case: - A recent ad from the opposition campaign featured appearances by the presidents of the California Medical Association and Planned Parenthood Northern California telling Californians to vote no.
- It says that 90% of the money collected through Prop 40 could end up going to big health insurance companies, and that the provision has no requirement to actually lower Californians’ healthcare costs.
The gap is closing: Before the opposition ramped up its media spate, an early August poll by the University of California, Berkeley, found that 48% of Californians surveyed said they would vote yes on Prop 40 and 41% would vote no. But the poll the university conducted at the end of September found yes votes were at 45% and no votes 42%. Zoom out: If Prop 40 succeeds, it will be the world’s first billionaire tax, and many wealthy Californians have already pledged to leave the state if it takes effect.—HVL | 
