California\u2019s revenue is notoriously top heavy, leaving state coffers vulnerable to boom-and-bust cycles as the wealthiest residents see their incomes rise and fall with the stock market.<\/p>\n
\n
In recent years, the top 1% of California households have accounted for about 40%-50% of all personal income tax revenue, according to the conservative Hoover Institution. <\/p>\n
In fact, the top 1% paid more than $60 billion in California personal income taxes in 2021, when the stock market soared.\u00a0The flip side is that the state suffers crippling deficits when the market tanks, like during the Great Financial Crisis. <\/p>\n
Now, California\u2019s Proposition 40 seeks to tax billionaires\u2019 wealth in addition to their incomes, and opponents have launched a full-court press, calling it a \u201cTrojan horse\u201d that will eventually come for all Californians.<\/p>\n
The ballot initiative calls for\u00a0residents worth more than $1 billion to pay a one-time tax equivalent to 5% of their assets. The union pushing Prop 40, the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, has said the wealth tax could raise $100 billion in revenue and help offset federal cuts to health spending.<\/p>\n
Prop 40 includes a provision that says the state legislature could modify it with a two-thirds vote\u2014but only \u201cif the statute is consistent with and furthers the purposes of the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prop 40 backers insist it\u2019s only aimed at billionaires. Still, any changes would be up to state lawmakers, though courts would also weigh in on any attempts to stretch the scope to all taxpayers or to extend it beyond a one-time levy.<\/p>\n
According to CalMatters, there have been numerous instances in which the state legislature has amended other ballot measures after they have passed. There have also been times when the courts have upheld the changes and when they have struck them down.<\/p>\n
In 1995, the state Supreme Court ruled lawmakers can make changes if they advance voters\u2019 original intent \u201cby any reasonable construction,\u201d the report said. But in 2019, the Third District Court of Appeal rejected an attempt\u00a0to amend the Political Reform Act, saying it\u00a0\u201cdirectly conflicts with a primary purpose\u201d of the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, there\u2019s nothing that would prevent another ballot initiative in the future from taxing wealth to fund other spending priorities. And if Prop 40 succeeds, similar initiatives could pop up elsewhere. <\/p>\n
A group of Nobel laureate economists who support Prop 40 have said the ballot measure could \u201ckickstart a movement\u201d that spreads well beyond California. <\/p>\n
In a\u00a0letter signed by Daron Acemoglu, Abhijit Banerjee, Peter Diamond, Esther Duflo, Paul Krugman, and Joseph Stiglitz, the economists argued that while billionaires have \u201cmade important contributions,\u201d they have also been \u201camply rewarded\u201d and have used loopholes to avoid taxes on capital returns, allowing their wealth to compound further.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Californians head to the polls, their vote may well come to be seen as a turning point in the battle between democracy and oligarchy,\u201d the letter added.<\/p>\n
Prop 40\u2019s critics have warned the tax is unlikely to be a one-time deal and also raised alarms about the forms of wealth that would be targeted, such as unrealized capital gains and privately held stock that\u2019s key for startups.<\/p>\n
Supporters point to the AI boom and say California\u2019s ultra-rich would still be among the world\u2019s wealthiest. And the Nobel laureates contend the tax will not doom Silicon Valley, saying California has attracted 80% of all new venture capital funding in the U.S. since the start of 2026, up from about 50% before 2025.<\/p>\n
Prop 40 has split the state\u2019s political and business leaders. Gov. Gavin Newsom is against it, while U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna is for it. But even the congressman has conceded he doesn\u2019t want illiquid stakes or voting shares to be taxed. Some unions have also come out in opposition, saying other areas of state spending should be priorities, too.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile,\u00a0Nvidia\u00a0CEO Jensen Huang said he\u2019s \u201cperfectly fine\u201d with it,\u00a0while\u00a0Google cofounder Sergey Brin\u00a0contributed over $100 million\u00a0toward opposing the billionaire tax.<\/p>\n
Further complicating the matter is competition from other ballot measures that would nullify Prop 40. Proposition 41 would make any new taxes subject to the state\u2019s existing spending limit, while Proposition 42 would prohibit taxes on financial assets and personal property other than real estate.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0recent\u00a0poll from the Public Policy Institute of California\u00a0found\u00a0all three have support from a majority of voters. <\/p>\n
\u201cSupporters of Proposition 40, the so-called billionaire tax initiative, have a lot of work to do,\u201d said Mark Baldassare, the survey\u2019s director,\u00a0told KQED.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Californias #top #pay #states #income #taxesProp #critics #hit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
California\u2019s revenue is notori… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[479,631,655,3905,262,169,430,2160,649,9492,187],"class_list":["post-6383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-billionaires","tag-california","tag-californias","tag-critics","tag-hit","tag-income","tag-pay","tag-states","tag-taxes","tag-taxesprop","tag-top"],"yoast_head":"\n
California's top 1% pay nearly half the state's income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone - Finance News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California's top 1% pay nearly half the state's income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone - Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"California\u2019s revenue is notori…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-09T17:22:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg?w=2048\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"headline\":\"California’s top 1% pay nearly half the state’s income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-09T17:22:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383\"},\"wordCount\":768,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"billionaires\",\"California\",\"Californias\",\"critics\",\"hit\",\"income\",\"pay\",\"states\",\"Taxes\",\"taxesProp\",\"top\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Finance News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383\",\"name\":\"California's top 1% pay nearly half the state's income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone - Finance News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-09T17:22:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=6383#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"California’s top 1% pay nearly half the state’s income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\",\"name\":\"Finance News\",\"description\":\"Just another Finance News site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"California's top 1% pay nearly half the state's income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone - Finance News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"California's top 1% pay nearly half the state's income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone - Finance News","og_description":"California\u2019s revenue is notori…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383","og_site_name":"Finance News","article_published_time":"2026-10-09T17:22:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg?w=2048","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u4f5c\u8005":"admin","\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4":"4 \u5206"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"headline":"California’s top 1% pay nearly half the state’s income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone","datePublished":"2026-10-09T17:22:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383"},"wordCount":768,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg","keywords":["billionaires","California","Californias","critics","hit","income","pay","states","Taxes","taxesProp","top"],"articleSection":["Finance News"],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383","name":"California's top 1% pay nearly half the state's income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone - Finance News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-09T17:22:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=6383#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"California’s top 1% pay nearly half the state’s income taxes\u2014Prop 40 critics say it may hit everyone"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/","name":"Finance News","description":"Just another Finance News site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2298607164-e1791550700777.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n