Sen. Bernie Sanders rallies support for proposed tax on billionaires in California : NPR

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A proposal to tax California’s billionaires pits the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, against independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders was in Los Angeles Wednesday evening to rally support for the measure. From member station KQED, Guy Marzorati tells the story.

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BERNIE SANDERS: Thank you, LA.

GUY MARZORATI, BYLINE: Senator Sanders supports a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ net worth, intended to offset federal cuts to health care.

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SANDERS: The billionaire class can’t have it all.

MARZORATI: The tax would apply retroactively to anyone living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. But it’s still a long way from becoming a reality. The health care union proposing the measure needs to collect nearly 875,000 signatures for the measure to pass in November. But Sanders is the biggest name yet to throw his weight behind the idea.

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SANDERS: As millions of people in this state struggle to afford health care, maybe billionaires should start paying their fair share of taxes.

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MARZORATI: The billionaire tax targets what Ray Madoff, a professor at Boston College Law School, calls the tax avoidance playbook for America’s wealthiest residents.

RAY MADOFF: And the very first step is to avoid salaries.

MARZORATI: By keeping their wealth in stocks and other assets, Madoff says billionaires can escape California’s progressive income tax. But Madoff is concerned about a single state like California passing its own wealth tax.

MADOFF: Because there is too much free movement of people. It’s too easy for people to move to different states or choose to open new businesses in other states.

MARZORATI: That concern was echoed last month by California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who noted that some billionaires have already left the state.

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GAVIN NEWSOM: This is a poorly written effort. This has already had an outsized impact on this state.

MARZORATI: Newsom also criticized the measure because it sets aside 90% of revenue for just one area: health care.

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NEWSOM: This doesn’t take care of our first responders and our firefighters. It does not support the general fund and parks.

MARZORATI: Newsom is likely to play a leading role in the campaign against the billionaire tax, and some of the state’s billionaires are already investing money to fund the opposition.

For NPR News, I’m Guy Marzorati in San Jose.

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