Sacramento Bee readers had plenty to weigh in on last week \u2014 from a high-stakes fight over taxing California’s wealthiest residents to a governor’s race heating up and a farm-country crisis rippling through the Central Valley. Here are the five stories that drew the most comments on sacbee.com from Aug. 3-9.<\/p>\n
California Democrats narrowly endorse billionaire wealth tax<\/p>\n
The California Democratic Party’s executive board voted Sunday to back Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ wealth intended to help offset looming healthcare cuts. The endorsement squeaked past the 60% threshold only after two delegates switched sides, exposing deep rifts in the party over how to answer growing anger about wealth inequality. Gov. Gavin Newsom, business groups and unions including the California Teachers Association oppose the measure.<\/p>\n
\u00bb\u00bb Read the story, see the comments<\/a><\/p>\n Labor Federation piles on with ‘overwhelming’ Prop. 40 vote<\/p>\n Two days later, roughly 1,000 delegates of the California Federation of Labor \u2014 an umbrella group representing more than 1,300 unions \u2014 voted to endorse Prop. 40, delivering a major win for sponsor SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. “Labor is unified, and the Democratic Party is unified,” SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan said. Critics, including CTA, argued the one-time tax is poorly conceived and won’t deliver sustainable relief.<\/p>\n \u00bb\u00bb Read the story, see the comments<\/a><\/p>\n Becerra: California must ‘fight’ for voting rights<\/p>\n Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Xavier Becerra rallied support near the Capitol on Wednesday for two voting rights bills. Senate Bill 1164 would bar local governments from suppressing or diluting the vote and allow the attorney general to sue. Senate Bill 1360 would require counties to provide election materials in languages spoken by at least 5,000 voting-age citizens. Both bills passed the Senate but must clear the Assembly before the legislative year ends Aug. 31.<\/p>\n \u00bb\u00bb Read the story, see the comments<\/a><\/p>\n Which Gavin Newsom will 2028 voters see?<\/p>\n CalMatters columnist Dan Walters took a hard look at Newsom’s political shape-shifting as the governor edges toward a presidential run. After Kamala Harris’ loss, Newsom drifted right \u2014 launching a podcast with Charlie Kirk and telling Democrats they needed to be “more culturally normal.” By May, he was pivoting left, calling for a “universal basic capital” and denouncing billionaires \u2014 even though he opposes California’s billionaire wealth tax on the November ballot.<\/p>\n