Billionaire tax: how a union leader’s ‘crazy’ idea became the defining issue of California’s midterms

It was an ambitious notion – now Californians will vote on a one-time 5% billionaire tax, and state’s super rich have pulled out all the stops in opposition

One year ago, the idea of a billionaire tax in California was still in its infancy.

It wasn’t yet one of the most contentious ballot measure fights in state history – pitting Democrats against Democrats, drawing national attention from political heavyweights, and netting hundreds of millions of Silicon Valley dollars to fight it. Back then, it was a bold and desperate answer to Donald Trump’s healthcare cuts.

Trump had just signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which dictated a trillion dollars of Medicaid, Affordable Care Act and other healthcare funding be cut over the next decade to offset sweeping tax cuts.