{"id":465249,"date":"2026-09-16T05:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/465249\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T05:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:14:20","slug":"poll-california-voters-back-billionaire-tax-measures-that-could-block-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/465249\/","title":{"rendered":"Poll: California voters back billionaire tax, measures that could block it"},"content":{"rendered":"

A majority of likely voters say they\u2019ll support a ballot measure levying a one-time, 5% tax on the state\u2019s billionaires<\/a> in November, but two initiatives designed to invalidate the tax are also polling favorably, according to a new independent poll released this week.<\/p>\n

Proposition 40, which was proposed by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West as a way to fill massive funding gaps triggered by President Donald Trump\u2019s cuts to Medicaid, has the support of 52% of likely voters in the latest survey from the Public Policy Institute of California,<\/a> a nonpartisan research group in San Francisco. It found 42% of likely voters said they\u2019d oppose the measure and 2% were undecided.<\/p>\n

\"PPICThe nonpartisan Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office projects it will raise \u201ctens of billions\u201d for healthcare and food assistance in the next several years. Critics, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic and Republican candidates running to succeed him, say it will drive wealthy taxpayers to other states and hurt California\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

But the success of Prop. 40 hinges on not just its ability to get majority support \u2014 it also must surpass the number of yes votes Propositions 41 and 42 receive if either of those measures also pass.<\/p>\n

Prop. 41, which the poll found was supported by 51% of likely voters, would require the state auditor to review proposed special taxes before they\u2019re placed on the ballot and invalidate taxes that don\u2019t comply with the state spending limit. Prop. 42 would prohibit new state personal property taxes, including those on retirement accounts and assets. It had support from 54% of likely voters in the PPIC poll. Both measures are supported by Building a Better California, a new group with major funding from Google co-founder Sergey Brin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supporters of Prop. 40 have to think about and perhaps do something about the fact that so many people are supporting 41 and 42,\u201d Mark Baldassare, PPIC\u2019s statewide survey director, said in an interview. \u201cTherein lies the problem when you have measures and countermeasures on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PPIC surveyed 1,103 likely voters between Sept. 4 and 10\u00a0about all 14 statewide measures on the November ballot<\/a> and had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Prop. 45, which would overhaul California\u2019s landmark environmental review law, saw a decrease in support since the organization last polled about it in July,<\/a> though the question used to poll voters changed and included additional information about the measure. The initiative would amend the California Environmental Quality Act by setting a 365-day limit on environmental review for projects like new reservoirs, desalination plants, housing subdivisions, bridges, solar farms and battery storage facilities. The measure would also require courts to make a decision within 270 days on any lawsuits filed under CEQA.<\/p>\n

The July poll showed the yes side had a commanding lead with the support of 73% of likely voters. The latest poll, however, showed just 49% of voters support the initiative \u2014 below the simple majority threshold it would need to pass. Baldassare said that when they last polled about the measure they only had the title and the partial summary of the initiative.<\/p>\n

When they asked likely voters about Prop. 45 this time, they also noted the fiscal impacts \u2014 high tens of millions of dollars and potential exceeding $100 million\u00a0\u2014 and the supporters and opponents. The measure is being backed by the California Children\u2019s Hospital Association, the California Water Association and the California Council for Affordable Housing and is opposed by the Coalition for Clean Air, California Environmental Voters and the National Wildlife Federation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to think that the placement on the ballot and the full description of the ballot label that provides supporters and opponents has really factored into the divided nature of support for Prop. 45 now,\u201d Baldassare said.<\/p>\n

The survey director also said the results could have been influenced by recent arguments from the opposition that raise concerns about the environmental impacts of some of the developments.<\/p>\n

Several other measures polled also failed to register above 50% support \u2014 the threshold they\u2019ll need to succeed on Election Day \u2014 including Prop. 39 and Prop. 43.<\/p>\n

Prop. 39, which would implement voter ID in future elections<\/a>, saw 43% support in the poll, with 85% of Republicans supporting the measure compared to 19% of Democrats. The initiative is backed by Reform California, a statewide organization led by state Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a San Diego Republican, and is opposed by the California Democratic Party and Democratic Party officials including U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and former Health Secretary and gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra. Prop. 43, which would raise the threshold from a simple majority to two-thirds to pass special taxes placed on the ballot through the citizens\u2019 initiative process<\/a>, saw 43% support from likely voters.<\/p>\n

The survey also found that all three bond measures on the ballot are polling favorably with majority support. Prop. 1, which would authorize $11.25 billion in bonds for various housing affordability programs, had the support of 55% of likely voters. Prop. 37, which would approve $25 billion in bonds to offer middle-income homebuyers fixed-rate mortgages for up to 17% of the purchase price for a newly constructed home, had the support of 61% of likely voters. And Prop. 38, which would authorize $8.4 billion for immunology and immunotherapy research, had the support of 55% of likely voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it tells you something about how people are responding to the requests to spend more money that won\u2019t impact their taxes, at least initially,\u201d Baldassare said. \u201cEspecially the two housing bonds \u2014 Prop. 1 and Prop. 37 \u2014 getting the support that they do right away is noteworthy particularly since housing and affordability is such a big issue in California today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PPIC poll also surveyed voters on whether they thought there were too many measures on the ballot \u2014 77% of likely voters said they either strongly or somewhat agreed \u2014 and the governor\u2019s race. Becerra, a Democrat, continues to have the majority support of voters, with 60% of likely voters saying they\u2019d vote for him in the most recent poll. Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, received 38% support, while 1% each said they wouldn\u2019t vote for either or didn\u2019t know who they\u2019d vote for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A majority of likely voters say they\u2019ll support a ballot measure levying a one-time, 5% tax on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1400,7,5307,47501,9,8,400,181,100,13,385],"class_list":["post-465249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-2026-elections","tag-california","tag-california-ballot-measures","tag-california-governor-election","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-regional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465249","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=465249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}