OAN Staff Addie Davis
2:21 PM – Thursday, June 18, 2026
A one-time tax measure targeting the Golden State’s wealthy residents is eligible to appear on the ballot in November for California’s general elections, Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced.
Through a petition process with specific requirements, the initiative received the necessary number of signatures to become eligible, Weber’s office noted. She will certify the measure as qualified on June 25th, as long as it is not withdrawn by its proponent.
The initiated constitutional amendment and statute, if passed, would levy a one-time tax of up to 5% on those possessing certain assets valued over $1 billion, with 90% of the tax revenues to be allocated to “healthcare and 10% to food assistance or education-related programs.”
The measure’s proponent, per Weber’s office, is Suzanne Jimenez, the chief of staff of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), a California-based union representing more than 100,000 healthcare workers in the state.
SEIU-UHW pointed to federal healthcare funding cuts to support the wealth tax, claiming the cuts would amount to roughly $100 billion in the next five years.
“We’re calling on California’s billionaires to step up and pay a one-time, emergency 5% tax to prevent the collapse of California’s healthcare and help fund California public K-14 education and state food assistance programs,” it stated.
Opponents of the initiative notably include Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and a number of the state’s billionaire residents, some of whom have already reportedly left the state due to the threat of the tax.
While the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) found that the measure would likely generate a temporary revenue boost of tens of billions of dollars over several years, it cautioned that the long-term outlook is highly uncertain. Specifically, the LAO noted that the tax would likely prompt many ultra-wealthy residents to leave California, leading to an ongoing drop in state income tax revenues of “hundreds of millions of dollars or more per year.”
The analyst’s office further warned that this permanent drop in overall state revenue could ultimately strain public services, meaning that sectors like healthcare could face long-term funding pressure even after their initial windfall runs out.
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