Labor leader pushing California billionaire tax responds to criticism | California Politics 360
*** proposal to hit billionaires with *** new tax is nowhere close to becoming reality, but some of the state’s richest residents, lawmakers, and labor groups are already clashing over it, and some of those billionaires are preparing to take their business to other states. Healthcare labor group SEIU United Healthcare Workers West. Has filed the proposed ballot initiative. It would impose *** one-time 5% tax on Californians with assets worth at least $1 billion. I spoke with Suzanne Jimenez with SEIU UHW. She is the group’s leader behind that proposal. Here’s part of our conversation. Suzanne, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me. So this is still in the early stages. You’re in the signature gathering process to just get this on the ballot. How is that going right now? So we just got our title and summary last Friday and so we will actually be hitting the streets collecting signatures in, in about *** week. So we haven’t quite started, but we know there’s lots of excitement, uh, about the petition and so we think it’s gonna go well once we’re out on the street collecting signatures. With this proposal, how much money do you expect the state’s government could collect and how exactly would that money be used? Yeah, so the California billionaire tax is *** one-time emergency 5% tax, uh, that is taxed on only 200 or just over 200 individuals here in California and it would raise about $100 billion over 5 years. Uh, 90% of it would go to healthcare, 10% of it would go to K through 14 education and, uh, food, uh, assistance programs. For the last couple of weeks on social media we’ve seen *** lot of debate on this. The New York Times reported that venture capitalist and co-founder of Google Larry Page, as well as uh venture capitalist Peter Thiel, are seriously considering leaving the state. What’s your response to that? You know, there are always these uh kind of chicken little arguments whenever there are tax policies like this being proposed, and when we look at real life examples of these kind of tax policies, none of that ever materializes. So, as an example in Massachusetts, they uh moved uh, *** millionaire’s tax, and there were lots of kind of rumors and speculations that millionaires were gonna flee the state and when the tax passed, uh, it actually. It was the opposite and so now there are more millionaires in the state of Massachusetts and so I just think kind of the swirl that is happening right now around the California billionaire tax is kind of the the same argument, and we really believe that the benefit from this tax is gonna outweigh, you know, maybe *** couple of people moving out of the state because we’re really heading towards *** healthcare crisis where we’re gonna see, uh, billions of dollars cut from our healthcare system and the money raised in this initiative is going to support that. But California already has one of the largest budgets in the nation, and they already have, I mean, we already have *** progressive tax system in this state. People like Page and Teal, uh, and the other top 1% of earners in California combined pay about *** total of half of the state’s income tax, which pays for state programs. I mean, why risk losing those people? So the way that the billionaire tax is actually written is, it, it is, uh, to deal with cuts that are coming from HR 1 and so really what we’re talking about right now is as we’re heading into 2026 and with the passage of HR 1, the state of California is looking at, uh, losing $100 billion in healthcare funding for the next 5 years. And if we don’t do anything right now, we are gonna see our hospitals close, we’re gonna see ERs close, and so that’s really what this billionaire tax is about. And so, and when you also look at ultra wealthy folks, they are not taxed similar to like teachers and firefighters and, you know, everyday workers that have to pay on their income tax. They actually don’t get taxed at the same rate as many of us and so we actually think that the money, the revenue that’s gonna be raised from the billionaire tax is gonna outweigh any loss in terms of, uh, you know, if, if any of those ultra wealthy folks move out of the state. Some of those ultra wealthy folks, venture capitalists online, including David Sachs and Shamath Pali Apatia, have basically said state leaders can’t be trusted with even more money, pointing to some of the fraud and waste in our state budget. I mean, Is that *** fair point that they’re making? You know, the initiative is actually written in *** way so that the money can only be used, it’s put in *** special fund, it can only be used for 90% of it has to go towards healthcare and specifically services that were cut through HR 1, and so that means Medicaid, that also means, uh, subsidies. For Covered California or folks that are on the exchange, it also includes, uh, you know, services like home care services, nursing home services that seniors and veterans rely on. So this initiative is written in *** way that the, the funding or the revenue that is raised can only go to these cuts that we’ve been talking about. My full conversation with Suzanne Jimenez is available on Calpolitics 360.com.
Labor leader pushing California billionaire tax responds to criticism | California Politics 360
Updated: 9:20 PM PST Jan 2, 2026
The labor leader who filed a proposed ballot initiative to tax billionaires in California is pushing back as some of the state’s richest residents threaten to leave the state over the proposal.Suzanne Jimenez, the Chief of Staff for the SEIU-UHW, joined California Politics 360 this week to discuss the debate surrounding her proposed ballot initiative. The effort specifically involves a one-time tax of 5% on Californians with assets worth at least $1 billion. She expects it to apply to 200 people and would raise $100 billion to help with rising healthcare costs. “There are always these chicken little arguments whenever there are tax policies being proposed,” Jimenez said in response to the threat of the state’s top earners fleeing the state. “We really believe the benefit of this tax is going to outweigh maybe a couple of people moving out of this state.” “If we don’t do anything right now, we’re going to see hospitals close, ERs close,” Jimenez said, pointing to the billions in healthcare cuts imposed by the Trump administration. “That’s what this billionaire’s tax is about.” Gov. Gavin Newsom is also an opponent of the billionaire tax. He has created a campaign to fight the measure. Jimenez said he could change his mind. “As all of these outcomes from these cuts happen, we believe the governor is going to reconsider his position,” Jimenez said. “No,” said Gov. Newsom’s spokesman Izzy Gardon when asked to respond to Jimenez’s comment. “The governor has consistently opposed state-level wealth taxes, recognizing that if implemented at a state-only level, they drive a race to the bottom. His position has not changed.” Jimenez said she did not speak to any lawmakers before trying to put the measure on the ballot. Critics of the tax have been wary of the state government’s ability to handle more money. The state’s budget has swelled from $208 billion to $321 billion over the last seven years. During that time, California leaders have struggled with some of the state’s most expensive programs. That includes the inability to account for billions of dollars spent on homelessness and housing and billions in fraudulent payments from the state’s unemployment system during the pandemic. State lawmakers have also refused to be transparent about the cost of a massive extension of the State Capitol that’s under construction. When asked if she and SEIU-UHW trust state leaders to handle the money properly, Jimenez said there are specific rules attached to the money, and it would require a special fund. “I trust the way we’ve written the initiative is going to ensure that the legislature and those making decisions around funding are going to use the funds for programs that have been cut,” Jimenez said.Watch the full interview with Jimenez in the video player 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.
The labor leader who filed a proposed ballot initiative to tax billionaires in California is pushing back as some of the state’s richest residents threaten to leave the state over the proposal.
Suzanne Jimenez, the Chief of Staff for the SEIU-UHW, joined California Politics 360 this week to discuss the debate surrounding her proposed ballot initiative. The effort specifically involves a one-time tax of 5% on Californians with assets worth at least $1 billion. She expects it to apply to 200 people and would raise $100 billion to help with rising healthcare costs.
“There are always these chicken little arguments whenever there are tax policies being proposed,” Jimenez said in response to the threat of the state’s top earners fleeing the state. “We really believe the benefit of this tax is going to outweigh maybe a couple of people moving out of this state.”
“If we don’t do anything right now, we’re going to see hospitals close, ERs close,” Jimenez said, pointing to the billions in healthcare cuts imposed by the Trump administration. “That’s what this billionaire’s tax is about.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom is also an opponent of the billionaire tax. He has created a campaign to fight the measure. Jimenez said he could change his mind.
“As all of these outcomes from these cuts happen, we believe the governor is going to reconsider his position,” Jimenez said.
“No,” said Gov. Newsom’s spokesman Izzy Gardon when asked to respond to Jimenez’s comment. “The governor has consistently opposed state-level wealth taxes, recognizing that if implemented at a state-only level, they drive a race to the bottom. His position has not changed.”
Jimenez said she did not speak to any lawmakers before trying to put the measure on the ballot.
Critics of the tax have been wary of the state government’s ability to handle more money. The state’s budget has swelled from $208 billion to $321 billion over the last seven years. During that time, California leaders have struggled with some of the state’s most expensive programs. That includes the inability to account for billions of dollars spent on homelessness and housing and billions in fraudulent payments from the state’s unemployment system during the pandemic. State lawmakers have also refused to be transparent about the cost of a massive extension of the State Capitol that’s under construction.
When asked if she and SEIU-UHW trust state leaders to handle the money properly, Jimenez said there are specific rules attached to the money, and it would require a special fund.
“I trust the way we’ve written the initiative is going to ensure that the legislature and those making decisions around funding are going to use the funds for programs that have been cut,” Jimenez said.
Watch the full interview with Jimenez in the video player 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.