{"id":381466,"date":"2026-07-01T00:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381466\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T00:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:50:13","slug":"billionaire-tax-measure-heads-to-californias-november-ballot-with-kern-county-watching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381466\/","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire tax measure heads to California\u2019s November ballot, with Kern County watching"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) California voters will face a high-profile \u201cbillionaire tax\u201d measure on the November ballot, a proposal supporters say would raise new revenue, but critics warn could push some of the state\u2019s wealthiest residents to leave.<\/p>\n

If passed, the measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

Tal Eslick, owner of Vista Consulting, said, \u201cI think there is this effort, especially on the part of progressive state leaders to somehow, you know, go after billionaire\u2019s or maybe even the trillionaire\u2019s that may exist in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Billionaire<\/p>\n

Billionaire tax measure heads to California\u2019s November ballot, with Kern County watching (AP Photo\/Jeff Chiu, File)<\/p>\n

Political analysts say a proposal like this could encourage some of California\u2019s wealthiest residents to relocate, potentially taking investment and business activity with them. <\/p>\n

Eslick said, \u201cAnd for that matter they can come back occasionally to visit and do a little bit of business but live in a state that is a little more accommodating for them from a tax standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Questions have also been raised about what the impact could be for Kern County if billionaires leave the state.<\/p>\n

Sherod Waite, CEO of Moneywise Guys, said, \u201cIt\u2019s questionable how much revenue would actually be generated from the tax and how much revenue would be lost from those people exiting the state. It\u2019s questionable. It\u2019s a gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waite said billionaires leaving could reduce state revenue that could be used in Kern County. <\/p>\n

\"Billionaire<\/p>\n

Billionaire tax measure heads to California\u2019s November ballot, with Kern County watching (AP Photo\/Jeff Chiu, File)<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of all the support services that the state offers to the entire state including us here in Kern County that are paid by tax dollars,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been outspokenly against a state wealth tax and is instead proposing a national tax policy that would tax anyone with a net worth of $100 million. <\/p>\n

Newsom said, \u201cIt\u2019s time for a national billionaire\u2019s tax and a new social contract. Just think of this, just ten percent of people own 2\/3\u2019s of the nation’s wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eslick said Newsom\u2019s position can be difficult to square.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a naturally confusing sort of position to be opposed to the tax in California but be supportive of it at a national level. But I think that\u2019s him walking a treacherous political road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Billionaire<\/p>\n

Billionaire tax measure heads to California\u2019s November ballot, with Kern County watching (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong, File)<\/p>\n

In a statement regarding the measure, Assemblyman Stan Ellis said in part, quote, “This would hurt Kern’s energy, Agriculture, manufacturing, and working families through lost investment, fewer jobs and unstable state funding.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) California voters will face a high-profile \u201cbillionaire tax\u201d measure on the November ballot, a proposal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-381466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}