Archiv: SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) / Service Employees International Union (SEIU)


27.05.2026 - 16:30 [ New York Times ]

The Case for California’s Billionaire Wealth Tax

(May 26, 2026)

A California ballot initiative that will be put to voters in November would tax just 5 percent of billionaires’ fortunes over five years. This trailblazing wealth tax would be a small (for the ultrawealthy) but important (for everyone else) step toward raising needed tax revenue and curbing the state’s runaway inequality.

The billionaire class in California includes roughly 250 households, a mere 0.001 percent of the state’s families. Yet its wealth now amounts to more than half of California’s entire annual economic output.

This means that if these billionaires spent all of their wealth, they could buy more than half of the goods and services produced in a year in the entire state.

25.02.2026 - 01:28 [ BillionaireTaxNow.org ]

California gubernatorial candidate Tony Thurmond endorses California Billionaire Tax

(February 20, 2026)

Thurmond, a longtime champion of programs to counter food insecurity, sponsored a state law that currently funds universal school meals for every California student. Today, Thurmond praised the Billionaire Tax for helping children and families when they need it most, by funding food, supporting K-14 public education, and protecting healthcare for all Californians.

“Billionaires have a unique opportunity to save healthcare for Californians, feed hungry families, and reinvest in our public schools,” Thurmond said. “Growing up in poverty, having access to healthcare and food aid kept me and my brother alive, and public education offered us a ladder to the middle class. At a time of unprecedented wealth and income inequality, now is the time to strengthen that ladder for the next generation, not pull it up behind us.”

25.02.2026 - 01:01 [ BillionaireTaxNow.org ]

Tax billionaires. Stop the healthcare collapse.

How it Works

Paid only by Californians worth more than $1 billion—about 200 people who together hold $2 trillion in wealth, most of which will never be taxed in their lifetimes due to loopholes in state and federal tax laws.
Raises about $100 billion to replace lost federal dollars and protect essential services. Directs 90% of funds to healthcare and 10% to public K-14 education and state food assistance programs.
No new taxes on the middle class, small businesses, or homeowners.

What it does for Californians

Keeps hospital ERs, clinics, nursing homes, and home care open and staffed in every community.
Stabilizes premiums and coverage, so families can see a doctor when they need one.
Protects healthcare jobs and the middle-class economy they support.
Funds public K-14 education to keep classrooms staffed, protect programs, and ensure every child gets a quality education.
Funds state food assistance programs to keep millions of Californians from losing access to food and support school nutrition programs.

What we want is simple

Protect our fragile healthcare system from collapse so our families can get the care we need.
Billionaires doing their part to support California and contribute to the social safety nets and public infrastructure that enabled their wealth accumulation.
A state with a strong middle class where everyone can thrive.

24.02.2026 - 23:36 [ SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) ]

California Billionaire Tax Act

California Billionaire Tax Act

A statewide ballot initiative to enact an emergency tax on billionaires to save California’s healthcare system from collapse

Massive cuts to federal healthcare funding are driving California towards a healthcare collapse. The federal funding cuts will strip roughly $100 billion from California healthcare over the next five years, leading to:

Short-staffed shifts: Skeleton crews left on the front lines as 145,000 healthcare jobs disappear
Higher costs and lost coverage: Insurance premiums go up for everyone, and millions of Californians lose coverage altogether.
Facility closures and reduced services: Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home care will be forced to reduce services or close down.

Our solution: The California Billionaire Tax Act

24.02.2026 - 23:33 [ Calmatters.org ]

Should billionaires pay more? California unions want voters to decide

(October 24, 2025)

The proposed initiative would tax the 2025 net worth of billionaires residing in California, allowing them to pay off the obligation over five years. The revenue would go into a special fund with 90% reserved for health care spending and 10% reserved for K-12 education spending.

It needs 874,641 signatures to be placed before voters on the 2026 ballot, a number that the groups are confident they can reach. Getting voters to ultimately approve the tax, however, could be a hard sell.

24.02.2026 - 23:18 [ Politico.com ]

Gavin Newsom moves to neutralize tax on billionaires

(January 12, 2026)

The conversations, reported here for the first time, have occurred intermittently for months as SEIU-UHW’s ballot initiative targeting billionaires migrated from the backrooms of California politics to the center of a raging debate about Silicon Valley and income inequality, sparking tech titans’ wrath and vows to move out of state.

“We’ve been at this for four months,” Newsom said in an interview with POLITICO, describing an “all-hands” effort that has included him meeting one-on-one with SEIU-UHW’s leader, Dave Regan.

A compromise does not appear imminent. A union official cast doubt on the possibility of a deal, saying the two sides do not currently have another meeting scheduled and framing a ballot fight as an inevitability.