Sacramento, California - On Wednesday, the controversial California Billionaire Tax Act gained enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November, despite the state's governor and tech moguls aggressively opposing it.
As per their website, the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), which has been leading the proposal, explains that "Californians worth more than $1 billion – about 200 people who together hold $2 trillion in wealth" will "pay a one-time, 5% emergency billionaire tax."
The group describes it as a "commonsense solution" to help "prevent the collapse of California healthcare and ensure our state's families can get the care we need."
Funds will also go towards bolstering food assistance and education programs.
While it has rapidly gained popularity among voters since it was unveiled last November, the effort has seen pushback from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has vowed to fight against it.
Countless tech moguls, such as Google co-founder Larry Page and Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, have threatened to leave the state if passed. Others, including Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, have donated millions to oppose it.
On Thursday, the Billionaire Tax Now Coalition – a group headed by the SEIU-UHW – sent a letter to Newsom asking that he instead support a 2% tax instead of 5%.
The SEIU-UHW now has until June 25 to decide on whether to strike some kind of alternative deal, or move forward with the vote in November.