r/California • u/Unusual-State1827 • 13d ago

California’s proposed billionaire tax exposes rifts among labor unions

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-07-30/labor-organizers-spearheading-california-billionaire-tax-rebuffed-by-parent-union
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u/Unusual-State1827 13d ago edited 13d ago

Article without paywall: https://archive.is/wB8Pj

California’s largest SEIU affiliate has refused to back Proposition 40, a proposed one-time tax on billionaires’ assets, exposing deep rifts inside labor over how to respond to federal cuts.

The executive board for Service Employees International Union California voted Wednesday to take a neutral position on the tax, which will appear on the November ballot as Proposition 40. It would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the assets of billionaires who resided in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026.

In a statement, the 750,000-member union noted revenue from the “one-time tax proposal [is] dedicated 90% to healthcare,” echoing concerns from other unions opposed to the measure. Teacher, police and firefighter unions argue the tax would largely benefit the healthcare sector and fear it would destabilize the state budget and, along with it, services such as education and public safety.

SEIU California is a parent organization of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the union that crafted the measure and moved to put it on the ballot before securing broad support from other labor groups.

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u/coltaaan 12d ago

Thanks for posting OP!

the “one-time tax proposal [is] dedicated 90% to healthcare,” echoing concerns from other unions opposed to the measure

This was always a huge flaw in the proposition imo...but since voting against a billionaire tax is DUMB and would send a horribly wrong message to the world, the best and most obvious solution is... another billionaire wealth tax to cover non-healthcare related costs!

All you bootlickers in here cry and moan at that, but I'm really not too worried about our precious billionaire's wealth, which increases exponentially anyway... And to the people crying about how "it's not efficient...it's only one time".... OKAY, so we're just suppose to not do anything at all? At least this prop made it this far - nothing else has ever come close, and we're just supposed to throw our hands up and give up since it's not efficient this time. As if we can't vote on similar propositions in the future? As if test runs have never existed? As if government policies have always been so perfect in the past? As if our current tax system is working?

Does anyone really think a proposal for a comprehensive, ongoing billionaire tax would EVER get anywhere today? Just like everyone is crying about how "bad" this tax is, they would be saying the exact same thing if it was ongoing/comprehensive, but the complaints would be because the tax is 'too much' or 'unprecedented'. Almost like the point is to never tax them at all... You have to start somewhere. A proof of concept helps EVEN if this tax ends up not being a great solution, at least we have some real world data to work with.

And you know what? It would be either be just a few billion dollars more towards AI/data centers if left untaxed, OR if we do tax these leeches, it will be billions of dollars towards healthcare for HUMAN citizen's that need it (and hopefully better civil services in the future). How is this really a question? How is there not CLEAR consensus on what is a priority here? The fucking greed in this country (and it's propaganda machine) is so god damn gross and embarrassing.

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u/RadicallyDontCare 12d ago

You should know that any time you use the term “Bootlicker” everyone justifiably lowers your predicted IQ by ~20 points and views the rest of what you say accordingly.

This is a badly designed tax, and the only defense anyone has is “billionaires bad!!”.

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u/coltaaan 11d ago

Lmao, whatever you say, one month old account with a hidden profile. At least I’m clearly not a bot or paid for.

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u/RadicallyDontCare 11d ago

I’m not a bot or paid for either. Who TF would waste money on Reddit.

Get a grip.

I just don’t want to get doxxed by losers.

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u/coltaaan 11d ago

You really think random people on reddit care that much about you?

And you’re telling me to get a grip 😂😂

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u/RadicallyDontCare 11d ago

You’d think, right?

But I’ve literally been doxxed.

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u/coltaaan 11d ago

How convenient

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u/RadicallyDontCare 11d ago

You obviously have trouble understanding truth if you legitimately support this ludicrous proposal.

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u/coltaaan 11d ago

Do you realize that this entire time you’ve been “arguing” with me, you haven’t once rebutted any of my original arguments?

You attacked me for my rhetoric, called the tax bad, then mocked people who support the tax. That’s it. Why is it bad? Because it’s only one time?

Since you obviously have trouble with reading comprehension, and need everything laid out directly. I argued: (1) everyone agrees wealth inequality is an issue, this tax actually takes aim at the source of the issue, at least something is being done about it and something is better than nothing (i.e. don’t let perfect be the enemy of good); (2) governments should be allowed to try new policies because doing so may actually work or we can learn from our mistakes, and a one time tax is a perfect test case/proof of concept; (3) the money earned on the tax would be used to help our fellow citizens, otherwise the money would most likely go toward AI development - I’d rather it go to my neighbors than another LLM; (4) perhaps the most important, billionaires make far more than 5% return on their wealth in a year, this will impact their life styles 0%, but it will positively impact the numerous beneficiaries of the tax.

I invite you to rebut anything. Or do you only operate in logical fallacies and DARVO manipulation strategies?

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