California voters in November are set to decide if the state’s billionaires should face a new tax on their assets in order to fund healthcare programs. The healthcare union backing the measure, SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, has said the state’s government could collect about $100 billion from the richest residents amid deep social services cuts from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress. But one of California’s most powerful healthcare groups is gearing up to fight the measure. The California Medical Association, which lobbies for the state’s largest healthcare providers, is siding with an unlikely alliance of the proposal’s opponents that include the governor, business groups, anti-tax non-profits and education leaders. The leaders of the SEIU-UHW and California Medical Association sat down for interviews on California Politics 360. Dave Regan, President of SEIU-UHWRegan is the man behind the billionaire tax and the leader of the group that did the work to get the question on the ballot this year. He defended the measure as a necessary solution to address the state’s health care crisis, which he says threatens coverage for 3.5 million residents and the stability of hospitals and clinics. “I would hope that Governor Newsom would remember that he’s the governor of the state of California and 3.5 million people are about to lose health care coverage. Hospitals are closing, clinics are closing,” Regan said. “This is an imminent, huge problem, and we have to deal with it now.” Regan criticized Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent push for a nationwide billionaire tax and changes to the federal tax code, calling it unrealistic. “The last time the federal government, the U.S. Congress, raised the minimum wage was 17 years ago. So I just don’t think it’s serious to say, we’re going to turn this over to the US Congress,” he said. The proposed tax, Regan explained, is a one-time emergency measure targeting 250 billionaires who were California residents as of January 1, 2023. He dismissed concerns that the tax would prompt billionaires to leave the state, calling such claims “entirely fabricated.” “There is absolutely no evidence that billionaires leave. Billionaires or the wealthiest people on the planet, they can live wherever they want in the world, let alone in the country,” Regan said. He pointed to Massachusetts as an example, where a tax on millionaires led to an increase in the number of millionaires in the state. When asked about collaboration with other health care groups, Regan confirmed consultations had taken place, including discussions with the California Medical Association. However, he criticized the association’s leadership for prioritizing billionaire interests over the needs of Californians. “Our coalition has hundreds of members. It’s growing every day,” Regan said. “Now that we’re going forward to the ballot, I think lots of people who’ve been watching this and waiting to see, is it really going to be on the ballot, are going to come out in favor of it because it makes sense.” Despite opposition from Newsom and legislative leaders, Regan expressed confidence in the state’s ability to administer the tax and allocate funds effectively. “It is easy to administer a tax on 250 people, and everyone knows who they are,” he said. Full interview with David Regan below: Dustin Corcoran, CEO of the California Medical AssociationThe California Medical Association (CMA) has voiced its opposition to the billionaires tax proposed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), arguing that the measure’s one-time revenue structure could harm California’s health care system in the long term. “It’s not for a lack of support for new revenue and for different revenue ideas. Over the years, we’ve supported the tobacco tax, prop 55, which increased taxes on high-income earners, and most recently the MCO tax,” CMA CEO Dustin Corcoran said. “This tax is very different because it’s one time in nature and it will actually cost the state of California more money over time than it’ll bring in. From a health care perspective, you really need revenue that’s ongoing, durable, and sustainable. This tax doesn’t meet that measure.” Corcoran responded to SEIU-UHW’s claims that hospital closures and shortcomings in the health care system could occur if the tax is not implemented. “They identified the right problem, but very much the wrong solution,” he said. “Hospital closures are real. H.R. 1 puts health care in California under extreme duress. Millions of Californians are going to lose their health insurance. What we should have done is had a real collective response to that as a state. Instead, we had one person, one organization go off on their own, create a ballot measure that wasn’t stress-tested with anybody else, wasn’t thought through with anybody else. And now we have a litany of analysis that shows that it’s not going to deliver what it promises, in fact, will hurt health care in California more than it’ll help,” he said. Corcoran said the SEIU-UHW did not consult with CMA or other health care organizations before putting the measure on the ballot. “Reagan chose to put this on the ballot measure without any consultation whatsoever with anybody else in the health care community. Oftentimes, that’s how bad policy ends up on the ballot—when you do things in isolation,” he said.Corcoran shared his message for Californians who might support the idea of a billionaires tax. “I think the sentiment’s right. Unfortunately, the devil is always in the details, and this time the details are pretty horrible. That instinctual desire by many people, which I think is right on in many cases, to say people should pay their fair share and we’ve got to take care of the most vulnerable among us—I get that instinct. On the way over to your studio, my son had that same exact instinct when I told him what you’re going to be interviewing me about today. Then I walked through the particulars of the measure, and a 15-year-old immediately got the problem with this particular measure. It’s going to cost the state of California more than it will gain,” he said. Full interview with Dustin Corcoran below: KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
California voters in November are set to decide if the state’s billionaires should face a new tax on their assets in order to fund healthcare programs.
The healthcare union backing the measure, SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, has said the state’s government could collect about $100 billion from the richest residents amid deep social services cuts from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.
But one of California’s most powerful healthcare groups is gearing up to fight the measure. The California Medical Association, which lobbies for the state’s largest healthcare providers, is siding with an unlikely alliance of the proposal’s opponents that include the governor, business groups, anti-tax non-profits and education leaders.
The leaders of the SEIU-UHW and California Medical Association sat down for interviews on California Politics 360.
Dave Regan, President of SEIU-UHW
Regan is the man behind the billionaire tax and the leader of the group that did the work to get the question on the ballot this year.
He defended the measure as a necessary solution to address the state’s health care crisis, which he says threatens coverage for 3.5 million residents and the stability of hospitals and clinics.
“I would hope that Governor Newsom would remember that he’s the governor of the state of California and 3.5 million people are about to lose health care coverage. Hospitals are closing, clinics are closing,” Regan said. “This is an imminent, huge problem, and we have to deal with it now.”
Regan criticized Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent push for a nationwide billionaire tax and changes to the federal tax code, calling it unrealistic.
“The last time the federal government, the U.S. Congress, raised the minimum wage was 17 years ago. So I just don’t think it’s serious to say, we’re going to turn this over to the US Congress,” he said.
The proposed tax, Regan explained, is a one-time emergency measure targeting 250 billionaires who were California residents as of January 1, 2023. He dismissed concerns that the tax would prompt billionaires to leave the state, calling such claims “entirely fabricated.”
“There is absolutely no evidence that billionaires leave. Billionaires or the wealthiest people on the planet, they can live wherever they want in the world, let alone in the country,” Regan said.
He pointed to Massachusetts as an example, where a tax on millionaires led to an increase in the number of millionaires in the state.
When asked about collaboration with other health care groups, Regan confirmed consultations had taken place, including discussions with the California Medical Association. However, he criticized the association’s leadership for prioritizing billionaire interests over the needs of Californians.
“Our coalition has hundreds of members. It’s growing every day,” Regan said. “Now that we’re going forward to the ballot, I think lots of people who’ve been watching this and waiting to see, is it really going to be on the ballot, are going to come out in favor of it because it makes sense.”
Despite opposition from Newsom and legislative leaders, Regan expressed confidence in the state’s ability to administer the tax and allocate funds effectively.
“It is easy to administer a tax on 250 people, and everyone knows who they are,” he said.
Full interview with David Regan below:
Dustin Corcoran, CEO of the California Medical Association
The California Medical Association (CMA) has voiced its opposition to the billionaires tax proposed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), arguing that the measure’s one-time revenue structure could harm California’s health care system in the long term.
“It’s not for a lack of support for new revenue and for different revenue ideas. Over the years, we’ve supported the tobacco tax, prop 55, which increased taxes on high-income earners, and most recently the MCO tax,” CMA CEO Dustin Corcoran said. “This tax is very different because it’s one time in nature and it will actually cost the state of California more money over time than it’ll bring in. From a health care perspective, you really need revenue that’s ongoing, durable, and sustainable. This tax doesn’t meet that measure.”
Corcoran responded to SEIU-UHW’s claims that hospital closures and shortcomings in the health care system could occur if the tax is not implemented.
“They identified the right problem, but very much the wrong solution,” he said. “Hospital closures are real. H.R. 1 puts health care in California under extreme duress. Millions of Californians are going to lose their health insurance. What we should have done is had a real collective response to that as a state. Instead, we had one person, one organization go off on their own, create a ballot measure that wasn’t stress-tested with anybody else, wasn’t thought through with anybody else. And now we have a litany of analysis that shows that it’s not going to deliver what it promises, in fact, will hurt health care in California more than it’ll help,” he said.
Corcoran said the SEIU-UHW did not consult with CMA or other health care organizations before putting the measure on the ballot.
“Reagan chose to put this on the ballot measure without any consultation whatsoever with anybody else in the health care community. Oftentimes, that’s how bad policy ends up on the ballot—when you do things in isolation,” he said.
Corcoran shared his message for Californians who might support the idea of a billionaires tax.
“I think the sentiment’s right. Unfortunately, the devil is always in the details, and this time the details are pretty horrible. That instinctual desire by many people, which I think is right on in many cases, to say people should pay their fair share and we’ve got to take care of the most vulnerable among us—I get that instinct. On the way over to your studio, my son had that same exact instinct when I told him what you’re going to be interviewing me about today. Then I walked through the particulars of the measure, and a 15-year-old immediately got the problem with this particular measure. It’s going to cost the state of California more than it will gain,” he said.
Full interview with Dustin Corcoran below:
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.