Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West Secures Signatures for California Billionaire Tax Ballot

California’s proposed one-time billionaire tax has cleared a key signature threshold, with backers saying they have gathered enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot in November.

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The Guardian reported that the campaign sponsored by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West said it had collected “more than 1.5m signatures,” while the measure required “870,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.”

CBS News

The Hill said advocates received enough signatures for the measure to appear on the ballot in November, adding that supporters say “1.6 million people have submitted signatures” and that state law requires at least “874,641 registered voters” to provide signatures by “June 24.”

HuffPost similarly described the campaign as having “more than 1.5 million Californians” sign the petition and said the proposal needs “at least 875,000 valid signatures” to put the question to voters in November.

The tax proposal would impose a “one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires” under the Guardian’s description, and The Hill said it would levy “a 5 percent” tax on the state’s “200 billionaires” based on net worth.

The measure is also described as applying retroactively to billionaires living in the state as of “1 January” in the Guardian, while HuffPost said it would apply to billionaires who resided in California as of “Jan. 1, 2026.”

Backers planned to submit signatures so officials could begin verification, with HuffPost saying they planned to submit on “Friday” so officials could begin the verification process.

The proposal’s stated purpose is to backfill healthcare funding after federal cuts, and it is framed as a response to “healthcare and food assistance” needs in the Guardian.

The Guardian said the measure would “impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires – including stocks, art, businesses, collectibles and intellectual property” to “backfill federal funding cuts to health services for lower-income people that were signed by Donald Trump last year.”

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It also said the tax would apply retroactively to billionaires living in the state as of “1 January.”

The Hill described the measure as the “Billionaire Tax Act” and said it would bring funding back to “healthcare programs meant for middle-class and low-income Californians.”

HuffPost said the initiative would be a “one-time 5% tax on the assets of people with at least $1.1 billion,” and it reported that the campaign planned to submit signatures so officials could begin verification.

HuffPost also said that if approved, the tax would apply to billionaires who resided in California as of “Jan. 1, 2026,” and that the residents subject to the tax would be allowed to pay it “all in one lump sum or in annual installments over five years.”

Fox Business added additional detail on the proposal’s scope, saying it would impose a one-time 5% tax on residents whose “net worth exceeds $1 billion,” and it described covered assets as including “businesses, securities, art, collectibles, and intellectual property.”

The signature drive is tied to a wider political fight in California, with labor-backed advocates arguing the tax is necessary to keep healthcare services operating while Gov. Gavin Newsom and tech-aligned opponents argue it will drive wealthy residents away.

The Guardian said tech moguls “spend tens of millions of dollars to oppose it,” and it named Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg as donors or movers, including that Alphabet’s president Sergey Brin “has donated at least $45m to the Super Pac Building a Better California.”

The Guardian also quoted Newsom as saying he would “do what I have to do to protect the state,” and it said the governor “has openly talked about his efforts to kill the proposal.”

The Hill quoted Newsom saying, “This will be defeated — there’s no question in my mind,” and added that he said, “I’ll do what I have to do to protect the state.”

The Hill also included Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) saying, “I don’t know what he’s thinking, whether he’s thinking, ‘Well, a one-time tax is too much.’ Is he thinking 5 percent or whatever is too much?”

On the labor side, the Guardian said the campaign was sponsored by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and that union members held a press conference with signs including “keep hospitals and ERs open.”

The Hill quoted Suzanne Jimenez saying, “Most Californians and most billionaires recognize how reasonable and necessary this proposal is — both to keep emergency rooms open and to save California businesses from closing.”

A CBS News/YouGov survey described California voters’ views on multiple state issues ahead of a debate, including taxes on billionaires.

CBS News said “A majority of California's voters want the next governor to support an added state tax on billionaires,” while it added that “Republicans, however, do not.”

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The CBS News piece also reported that “Most California voters feel there is at least some, if not a lot, of fraud in state agencies,” and it said “Most voters say finding fraud should be a high priority.”

On immigration, CBS News said “The Trump administration's deportation program does not find majority favor among California's voters,” and it explained that “That's one reason many (especially Democrats) have said they want the next governor to be someone who will not cooperate with the administration on ICE operations.”

CBS News also reported that “Three-quarters of California's voters call housing unaffordable,” and it said that “On what the next governor should do to reduce homelessness, top priorities are more housing and supporting mental health treatments.”

The survey also addressed student athletes and gender, saying “A majority of voters say student athletes should be required to play on the team that matches their sex at birth.”

CBS News specified the survey methodology, stating that “This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a representative sample of 1,479 registered voters in California interviewed between April 23-27, 2026,” and it gave a “margin of error is ± 4.2 points for registered voters and ± 4.1 points for likely primary voters.”

Opposition to the billionaire tax has included public statements from Sergey Brin, who framed the measure as a continuation of the socialism he said he fled.

Fox Business reported that Brin “slammed the proposed billionaire tax in California, likening it to the socialism that he fled with his family from the former Soviet Union,” and it quoted him saying, “I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don't want California to end up in the same place,” in a statement to The New York Times.

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Fox Business also said the proposal would impose a one-time 5% tax on residents whose “net worth exceeds $1 billion,” and it described the tax as applying retroactively to Californians who were residents of the state at the start of “2026,” which it said prompted Brin to move out of the state late last year.

The Fox Business account added that The New York Times reported Brin moved to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and is spending “every other week at Google's headquarters in California.”

It also said that in December, an entity connected to Brin terminated or relocated “15 California limited liability companies (LLCs)” out of the state and converted several into Nevada entities.

The Guardian described Brin’s political spending against the tax, saying he donated “at least $45m” to the Super Pac Building a Better California dedicated to blocking the tax.

HuffPost added that Brin was “estimated to be worth $273 billion,” and it said Brin moved several of his business entities to Nevada late last year in an apparent effort to limit his exposure.