California Voters Reject One-Time Wealth Tax on Billionaires

Voters in California have rejected a proposal to impose a one-time wealth tax on billionaires, according to projections released by major US media outlets on Monday.

The proposal, known as Proposition 40, would have required approximately 200 billionaires in the state to pay a one-time tax equivalent to five percent of their total wealth. Most of the revenue was intended to fund healthcare services.

Nearly a week after the midterm elections, CNN and CBS News both projected that the measure would fail.

Vote counting in California, the most populous US state, typically takes considerable time. Proposition 40 was among several ballot measures presented to voters during last week's midterm elections, in which the Democratic Party recorded significant victories nationwide, while President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffered major setbacks.

California is also home to one of the widest wealth gaps between rich and poor in the United States.

Supporters of the wealth tax viewed the proposal as an important part of broader global efforts to address economic inequality.

However, early results last Wednesday indicated that the measure was heading toward defeat. With approximately 60 percent of the votes counted, 55.6 percent of voters opposed the proposal, while 44.4 percent supported it.

Before Monday's projections, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz said in a statement sent to AFP that "important changes rarely follow a straight path."

In the statement, circulated through the International Capital Tax Commission, he added that Proposition 40 represented the first time a proposal to tax billionaires' wealth had been put to a public vote in the United States.

According to estimates by supporters, the one-time tax could have generated approximately $100 billion in revenue. The funds were intended to support public healthcare services affected by budget cuts under the Trump administration.

However, opponents of the proposal, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, raised hundreds of millions of dollars to campaign against the measure.

They argued that imposing such a tax would encourage wealthy individuals to leave California.

In the run-up to the vote, California television networks aired extensive advertisements urging voters to reject the proposal. The advertisements warned that an exodus of billionaires could lead to declining tax revenues for the state in the future.

Outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom had also announced his opposition to the measure. He is widely expected to consider a presidential bid in 2028.

California voters have previously considered wealth tax proposals three times during the current decade. On each occasion, voters rejected them.