{"id":514328,"date":"2026-10-31T18:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T18:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/514328\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T18:48:09","slug":"california-propositions-40-41-42-last-minute-guide-the-billionaire-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/514328\/","title":{"rendered":"California Propositions 40, 41, 42 last-minute guide: The billionaire battle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The so-called billionaire tax<\/a> has become one of the most contested California propositions in years, generating national interest and massive spending by opponents<\/a>. It also has spawned two rival ballot measures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a cheat sheet for sorting it all out.<\/p>\n

Proposition 40The basics<\/p>\n

Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires\u2019 assets. The tax applies to people with a net worth of at least $1 billion who resided in California on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n

Impact<\/p>\n

Ninety percent of the tax would fund healthcare, and 10% would go toward education and food assistance.<\/p>\n

The tax would affect hundreds of billionaires whose net worth includes assets such as their businesses, stocks and other investments. Real property, pensions and retirement accounts generally would be excluded.<\/p>\n

Proposition 41<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called the Improving Transparency, Effectiveness and Efficiency in California Government Act. But it is deeply connected to Proposition 40 and is funded by foes of the billionaire tax<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The basics<\/p>\n

Proposition 41 requires the state auditor to review programs funded by proposed special taxes before they appear on the ballot. More importantly, it also prohibits new state taxes from being exempted from a voter-approved state spending limit.<\/p>\n

Impact<\/p>\n

The Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office says passage of Proposition 41 could prevent Proposition 40, the proposed billionaire tax, from becoming law even if voters approve it. This could happen if Proposition 41 receives more \u201cyes\u201d votes than Proposition 40.<\/p>\n

Proposition 42<\/p>\n

Proposition 42 would limit the state\u2019s ability to impose certain new taxes. But it\u2019s more complicated and far-reaching than that description might sound. And, yes, it\u2019s also backed by opponents of Proposition 40.<\/p>\n

The basics<\/p>\n

Proposition 42 would prohibit new taxes on \u201cretirement holdings, individually owned assets, and other forms of personal savings\u201d that take effect after Jan. 1, 2026. It also would bar retroactive taxes on past earnings unless the state is using revenue from the tax to respond to emergencies such as a fire or a flood.<\/p>\n

Impact<\/p>\n

The Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office says Proposition 42 could nullify Proposition 40 because the two measures conflict with each other. If voters approve both, the one with the most \u201cyes\u201d votes generally would become law, the office says.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper<\/p>\n

The billionaire tax was pushed by the Service Employees International Union<\/a>-United Healthcare Workers West and has some labor and progressive support<\/a>, including from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the state Democratic Party. They say the tax is needed to help the less fortunate and that the super-rich can afford it. But key Democrats and some key unions are not supporting it. <\/p>\n

Critics include some of California\u2019s richest people,<\/a> and they are spending a fortune to defeat it. They say it will hurt innovation and drive the wealthy out of the state, hurting the treasury.<\/p>\n

More reading<\/p>\n

A powerful union and the birth of the billionaire tax<\/a> (L.A. Times)<\/p>\n

Why unions are divided over Prop. 40<\/a> (L.A. Times)<\/p>\n

The Google co-founder fighting the billionaire tax<\/a> (L.A. Times)<\/p>\n

Inside the massive spending to defeat Prop. 40<\/a> (L.A. Times)<\/p>\n

How the billionaire tax could spark national movement<\/a> (The New Yorker)<\/p>\n

The academics behind Prop. 40<\/a> (Sacramento Bee)<\/p>\n

Will Prop. 40 reallly bring an exodus?<\/a> (L.A. Times)<\/p>\n

Why healthcare is divided by Prop. 40<\/a> (Bloomberg)<\/p>\n

Taxing the \u201cultrarich,\u201d a guide<\/a> (New York Times)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The so-called billionaire tax has become one of the most contested California propositions in years, generating national interest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27788,197861,40292,7,68863,9,8,1902,24819,140257,37020,13995,197862,346,1920,4489,55957],"class_list":["post-514328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-asset","tag-billionaire-battle","tag-billionaire-tax","tag-california","tag-california-billionaire","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-healthcare","tag-l-a-times","tag-last-minute-guide","tag-legislative-analyst","tag-net-worth","tag-new-state-taxis","tag-office","tag-prop","tag-proposition","tag-state-auditor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514328","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=514328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}