‘Tax the Ultra-Rich’ bus swings by UC Berkeley to advocate Billionaire Tax | Campus

A coalition of organizers pulled up to UC Berkeley in a bus advocating for students to tax billionaires Wednesday.

The demonstration was organized by Tax the Ultra-Rich Now, a national organization working to raise awareness about wealth inequality.

In attendance were Berkeley District 7 Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra, District 7 candidate Syrak Micael and District 1 candidate Daria Wrubel.

The bus parked on Bancroft Avenue in front of campus, across the street from Caffè Strada. There, organizers spoke with students passing by, urging them to vote for Proposition 40 — also known as the Billionaire Tax — which would require billionaires to pay a one-time wealth tax equal to 5% of their wealth. The organizers also expressed support for Prop. 3, which would extend an existing tax on individuals earning high incomes to fund schools and healthcare.

“It’s about whether we, as a society and as a state, want to look into ways to radically change our economy to benefit working people,” Lunaparra said. “And I think that most students and young people do.”

The demonstration is part of a bus tour across California that began at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ rally in San Francisco on Saturday. Other stops on the tour include Oakland, Bakersfield and Los Angeles.

During the demonstration, the campaign’s mascot — a California bear — emerged from the bus and headed to Caffè Strada to canvas with coffee drinkers.

Micael expressed hopes for the demonstration being the most effective way to engage with UC Berkeley students. He said he had asked students passing by questions such as, “Hey, do you want to take on some billionaires? Hey, do you hate Elon Musk?”

“And most of the time, they’re receptive, like, ‘Hell yeah, I do,’” Micael said.

Organizers also called on students to vote no on propositions 41 and 42, two billionaire-funded propositions that could block Prop. 40 if they pass alongside it.

Brian Galle, a Berkeley Law professor who co-authored Prop. 40, said propositions 41 and 42 were “designed to confuse voters.”

Tax the Ultra-Rich Now has created two chants: “Yes on 40, yes on 3! Billionaires, don’t tread on me!” and “No on 41 and 42! Stop billionaires from screwing you!”

Igor Volsky, the campaign manager for Tax the Ultra-Rich Now who fled the Soviet Union, described Prop. 40 as the “first battle in the broader war” of reclaiming power from billionaires for regular people, especially young people who are impacted by economic changes as a result of AI.

“If Berkeley students want to have control over their future, if they want to be able to make decisions about how AI shapes our lives moving forward, if they want to be able to just have economic freedom and independence, and have that power in their own hands — like we should in a democracy — then they have to vote for Prop. 40,” Volsky said.