SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 27 (Our California Times) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will vote against a billionaire wealth-tax initiative that qualified for the November ballot, calling instead for a national tax on billionaires.
In a Substack post and video Thursday, Newsom said the fight “belongs at the federal level” and argued that wealthy residents can move to states such as Texas or Florida to avoid a California tax. In January, Newsom told The New York Times he intended to stop the proposal.
Newsom said he understood the concerns behind the measure but opposed it because it would direct nearly all of the revenue to one category of state spending. He paired that criticism with a broader federal plan that would include a minimum tax on Americans worth more than $100 million, tighter inheritance rules, limits on borrowing against appreciated assets and higher corporate tax rates.
The California initiative was backed by a health care workers’ union, setting up a November vote on whether the state should tax billionaires at the state level.
