{"id":430369,"date":"2026-08-12T03:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/430369\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T03:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:22:16","slug":"californias-billionaire-tax-is-a-national-campaign-says-labor-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/430369\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s billionaire tax is a ‘national campaign’ says labor leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

California\u2019s billionaire tax battle<\/a> is quickly turning into a war on the ultra-rich \u2014 as the labor leader behind the controversial measure is now promising to bring it to a national stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dave Regan, president of the powerful health care labor union SEIU-UHW, said Tuesday that his push for a one-time 5% tax on the wealth<\/a> of California\u2019s richest residents has become part of a broader effort to target money \u201choarded outside of the tax system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is now a national campaign,\u201d Regan said to Politico<\/a>. \u201cWe knew this was provocative, we knew it would touch a nerve, but we completely underestimated how much interest and attention it would generate.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West President Dave Regan is seen during a summit hosted by Politico on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (FR172339 AP) AP Photo\/Annie Barker<\/p>\n

A sign is displayed at the Billionaire Tax Now booth at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, Saturday, February 21, 2026. (AP) AP<\/p>\n

The proposal, known as Proposition 40, would target roughly 200 California billionaires and funnel the estimated billions in revenue toward the state\u2019s health care programs.<\/p>\n

The measure initially faced fierce opposition from powerful labor and health care groups, as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom, while billionaires and tech executives have poured tens of millions of dollars into fighting it.<\/p>\n

Now the billionaire tax is inevitable, according to Regan, who told Politico Tuesday, it \u201cwill happen in California and lots of other states.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we\u2019re going to win in November,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Google co-founder Sergey Brin alone has now contributed more than $100 million to the effort opposing the tax<\/a>, including a recent $20 million donation. With a fortune estimated at roughly $267 billion, Brin could face an estimated $13.3 billion hit under the proposal.<\/p>\n

Sergey Brin and Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto attend the 2026 Met Gala celebrating \u201cCostume Art\u201d at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Getty Images North America) Getty Images<\/p>\n

Supporters hold signs advocating for the Billionaire Tax Now coalition during a news conference in Los Angeles, California, on Monday, April 27, 2026. California\u2019s labor unions and billionaires are spending lavishly on a political battle over a proposed new tax on the state\u2019s wealthiest citizens. (Bloomberg) Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West President Dave Regan is pictured during a summit hosted by Politico on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (FR172339 AP) AP Photo\/Annie Barker<\/p>\n

Regan dismissed warnings that California\u2019s wealthiest residents would simply flee the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t stop governor Newsom or others from spreading misinformation, but we can all look it up,\u201d Regan said. \u201cIts a complete fallacy that billionaires provide that much tax revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brin, who has publicized his move to Nevada, remains financially involved in the California fight through Building A Better California, the group backing competing measures that could undermine Proposition 40.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t think any of these folks are going anywhere,\u201d Regan said. \u201cLess than 10 of them claimed to leave California.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom has opposed the state tax, arguing instead for a national approach<\/a>. \u201cToday, the office worker can shoulder a higher tax rate than the heiress,\u201d Newsom said, calling for an end to the \u201ctax-free lifestyle loan\u201d that allows wealthy Americans to borrow against stock holdings without reporting the money as taxable income.<\/p>\n

A stack of campaign push cards in support of the Overpaid CEO Act is seen during a canvassing event on Saturday, April 11, 2026, in San Francisco, California. In June, voters in San Francisco will decide whether to impose an eight-fold increase to a gross-receipts tax on any large company doing business in the city where the highest paid executive earns 100 times or more than their median employee. (Bloomberg) Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Healthcare workers and other supporters with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition hold placards during a media briefing in Los Angeles on Monday, April 27, 2026. The coalition outlined the next steps in their effort to get California\u2019s Billionaire Tax on the ballot for the November election, with their efforts already exceeding 1,500,000 signatures collected from across the state. (AFP) AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The billionaire tax has nevertheless gained heavyweight support from the California Democratic Party and California Federation of Labor Unions.<\/p>\n

And Regan has his sights set beyond Sacramento.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is watching<\/a>, we would love your support,\u201d Regan said. \u201cWhatever we have to do, we\u2019re ready to help you get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proposition 40 is headed for California\u2019s November ballot, where it could face competing measures backed by billionaire opponents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California\u2019s billionaire tax battle is quickly turning into a war on the ultra-rich \u2014 as the labor leader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11645,9329,7,9,8,457,4182,1694,3586,6392],"class_list":["post-430369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-alexandria-ocasio-cortez","tag-billionaires","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-metro","tag-taxes","tag-us-news","tag-voters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430369","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=430369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}