California billionaire tax backers work Washington
California wealth tax campaign hits Hill.
An official from the healthcare union that has championed a proposed one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires’ assets met with California’s House delegation and the House Progressive Caucus this week to seek to build political support for a ballot measure that has roiled California politics and failed. Governor Gavin Newsom’s opposition and other labor unions.
California Rep. Ro Khanna said SEIU-UHW political director Gustavo Medina facilitated meetings in which he advocated for the initiative as a solution to the deep health care cuts included in President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending bill.
Khanna and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are the most prominent politicians backing the ballot initiative, which has otherwise received little attention from elected officials as Newsom and others warned it would jeopardize California’s fiscal stability and drive wealthy taxpayers out of the state.
Supporters appear to be overwhelmingly outnumbered by opponents of the effort, including Silicon Valley giants like Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who have poured millions of dollars into rival ballot measures. They will also have to contend with pro-Democratic rivals like Planned Parenthood and the California Teachers Union.
Khanna and other supporters argued that the measure was both a necessary corrective to Trump’s agenda and an opportunity for Democrats to embrace a populist economic message.
Melanie Mason contributed to this report.
