California Voters Narrowly Reject Proposition 40 Billionaire Wealth Tax After Heavy Opposition Spending
Photo: National ReviewCalifornia voters narrowly rejected Proposition 40, a one-time 5 percent tax on the net worth of the state's roughly 200 billionaires, in the Nov. 3 election. Sen. Bernie Sanders said opponents won 52 percent of the vote. The measure was sponsored by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, which supplied the signatures and most of the campaign money. It was meant to fund state health care and backfill federal Medicaid cuts in President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. A September Public Policy Institute of California survey of likely voters had it ahead 52 percent to 46 percent. The opposition group Building a Better California raised more than $333 million, including $102 million from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and $40 million from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Sanders put opposition spending at $425 million and said it outraised supporters 250 to 1 on ads. Fundraisers reportedly urged donors to give appreciated stock, which federal law exempts from capital gains tax. Voters in Washington and Colorado approved tax hikes on the wealthy. Advocates now plan a 2028 state push, and Sanders vowed a federal billionaire wealth tax.
The New Republic, on the left, frames the result as billionaires beating a populist measure with money and a tax break. It leads with Brin's and Schmidt's donations and the stock-gift loophole, and ties the vote to Democrats' congressional win and the tax hikes in Washington and Colorado. National Review and RealClearPolitics, on the right, treat the outcome as a verdict against wealth taxes. RealClearPolitics says the movement hit a wall in California. National Review traces the idea to Thomas Piketty and UC Berkeley and stresses that California drew 62 percent of U.S. venture capital in 2025 and that founders could have been taxed on paper value and left. Both sides report the narrow loss and the 5 percent rate, but the right leaves out the donor tax break. Consortium News offers a distinct angle, quoting Sanders and organizer Nadia Rahman on a national tax and a 2028 state campaign.
How the sides differ Left sources stress billionaires' spending and a tax break on donated stock; right sources stress the wealth tax's limits and economic risks; alternative sources stress Sanders' push for a national tax.
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The New Republic leads with the billionaires' win and the tax break on donated appreciated stock, featuring Brin's $102 million and Schmidt's $40 million, and links the vote to national populist anger.
Consortium News leads with Sanders' reaction, including his spending figures and pledge of a federal wealth tax, and quotes San Francisco organizer Nadia Rahman on a 2028 state campaign.
- National ReviewPaywallAn Intellectual History of California’s Proposition 40
RealClearPolitics says the wealth-tax movement hit a wall in California. National Review recounts the measure's intellectual origins, union sponsorship and polling, and stresses risks to venture capital and founders.