California’s Billionaire Tax Act has officially qualified for the November 2026 general election ballot after state officials confirmed the initiative gathered more than enough signatures, setting up a costly political battle that has fractured the state’s own Democratic leadership.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced Wednesday that the measure had surpassed the 874,641 valid voter signatures required under state law. The initiative will be formally certified for the Nov. 3 ballot on June 25, unless its backers choose to withdraw it before then.
The measure, championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), would impose a 5 percent one-time wealth tax on California billionaires. Under the proposal, 90 percent of the revenue would flow to healthcare programs, with the remaining 10 percent directed toward food assistance and education. State officials have not released an official revenue estimate, but backers say California’s roughly 200 billionaires represent a substantial tax base.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has come out against the initiative, a notable break from the progressive wing of his own party. Newsom told The New York Times earlier this year that he had “no question in my mind” it would be defeated and has argued that a wealth tax of this kind should be applied nationally rather than unilaterally in California.
His chief of staff, Nathan Barankin, previewed the campaign against the measure. “This is not going to be, ‘Billionaires killed this wealth tax’ if it appears on the November ballot,” Barankin told the Times. “It’s going to be Planned Parenthood, doctors, teachers and labor killed it.”
That framing reflects how sharply the measure has divided Democrats. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, one of California’s largest unions, backs the tax, arguing federal cuts to Medicaid have left hospitals facing dangerous staffing shortages. Meanwhile, tech executives and venture capital figures in Silicon Valley have pushed back hard.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has warned the tax would undermine California businesses and drive company leaders out of the state. Business groups have flagged data showing a continued exodus of high-income residents and corporations from California, citing an already high tax burden.
The measure’s road to the ballot was not smooth. Newsom spent months in quiet negotiations with liberal organizations that opposed the initiative, exploring paths to block it from reaching voters. Those efforts did not succeed.
California already has the highest state income tax rate in the country at 13.3 percent. State economists and business groups have repeatedly warned that additional taxes on high earners accelerate the departure of wealthy residents to lower-tax states such as Texas and Florida. Supporters have argued those migration concerns are overstated and that the tax would unlock billions in revenue for healthcare infrastructure strained by federal spending cuts.
The measure faces a November electorate that is heavily Democratic in California, but opposition from Newsom and a well-funded business campaign against it could prove decisive.
