Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick says he’s the latest billionaire to join the exodus out of California as the “billionaire tax” initiative gathers signatures for the November ballot. “On December 18, I moved to Texas,” he told TPBN hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays. “I don’t know what’s so specific about December 18, but let’s just say it’s prior to January.”
If the initiative passes, it would levy a one-time 5% tax on the entire net worth of the state’s billionaires, backdated to Jan. 1, 2026. That much you probably already knew.
What you might not know about the so-called Billionaire’s Tax Act is who is pushing for it and why — or how much it’s already cost the state.
The initiative’s primary sponsor is SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), which hopes to literally cash in on the tech sector’s riches. The Billionaire’s Tax Act, according to the union, would direct any funds raised “primarily to healthcare funding and food assistance programs through the newly created 2026 Billionaire Tax Reserve Fund.”
I think we know how that would play out in the real world: as a slush fund by, for, and of the SEIU.
The union’s initiative — officially known as Initiative No. 25-0024 — hasn’t yet gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot in November. The best current estimate is that around 220,000 or so have been collected, out of the 874,641 valid voter signatures required by law.
But the SEIU has until June 25 to get there, and the union isn’t just well-organized — it believes there’s [dr_evil_voice] ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS [/dr_evil_voice] to be had.
That kind of revenue booty does tend to focus one’s efforts, but the opposition is well-funded (duh!) and even includes California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Here’s the thing, though: Billionaires like Kalanick aren’t waiting around to see if it passes or not.
While the SEIU-UHW website claims that “The tax would be paid only by Californians worth more than $1 billion — which is about 200 people who hold a combined wealth of $2 trillion,” those are 200 highly mobile people.
So mobile that with Kalanick becoming the latest high-profile billionaire to set up residence elsewhere, an estimated $536 billion worth of billionaires have fled California. That’s more than a quarter of the $2 trillion SEIU-UHW was hoping to wet its beak in, bringing the hoped-for windfall down to “just” $74 billion or so.
But this is a public service sector union, so naturally, things get worse.
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya estimated that by January, $1 trillion of billionaire wealth “has left California,” and “taking their income tax revenue, sales tax revenue, real estate tax revenue and all their staffs (and their salaries and income taxes) with them.”
“With no rich people left in California,” Palihapitiya concluded, “the middle class will have to foot the bill” for Sacramento’s lavish ways.
Ha-ha, so funny. California already chased out so much of the middle class with taxes and regulations that it’s hardly worth squeezing the survivors.
In any case, if Palihapitiya is correct, the billionaire’s tax might raise $50 billion.
Assuming the initiative passes, which is unsafe to assume, give the opposition. And survives the inevitable court challenges. To my eyes, Initiative No. 25-0024 looks like an unconstitutional taking, although granted, you never know what the courts might decide.
But the money has already left the state, perhaps never to return.
They just don’t need the headache.
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