'Billionaire tax' proposal in California: The majority made its decision

In the US state of California, the proposal to impose a 5 percent one-time tax on the assets of people with a net worth of over $1 billion was rejected by voters. According to The New York Times (NYT) newspaper, approximately 83 percent of the votes in the state were counted in the midterm elections held on November 3.

Support for the "Proposition 40" regulation, one of the proposals voted on by voters in California, remained at 47 percent.

Within the scope of the proposal, it was envisaged that a one-time 5 percent tax would be collected from the personal assets of people with a net worth of over $ 1 billion and most of the income would be transferred to health services.

Although the idea of ​​collecting higher taxes from the wealthy was generally supported in California, where Democratic voters are dominant, the proposal was rejected due to differences of opinion between Democrats and labor unions.

It is considered that the counter campaign financed by billionaires was effective in the rejection of the proposal.

It was stated that Google co-founder Sergey Brin donated more than $100 million to reject the tax proposal. It was reported that the group led by Brin raised more than $300 million this year, according to the latest campaign finance records.

The rejection of the billionaire tax proposal in a state where Democrats are strong, such as California, is expected to keep discussions of public support for similar wealth taxes in the United States on the agenda for a long time.

The wealth tax proposal is also expected to be discussed in the 2028 presidential election campaign.

California Governor Gavin Newsom had previously announced that he was positive about a wealth tax that would be implemented throughout the country, but that he did not support a regulation that would be implemented only in the state.