Not only has Gov. Gavin Newsom vocally opposed the proposed California billionaire tax, but he also wants to prevent the state from ever passing a wealth tax in the future.
On Friday he endorsed Proposition 42, a ballot measure that would cancel out Proposition 40, the proposed billionaire tax. Prop. 42 would prohibit retroactive taxes like the one-time 5% tax on assets that would apply to any billionaire who lived in California on Jan. 1, 2026 if Prop. 40 passes.
But Prop. 42, funded and placed on the ballot by billionaire and Google co-founder Sergey Brin to defeat the billionaire tax, also would go further, by banning any new taxes on personal property.
That includes pensions and 401K accounts before retirees start drawing retirement income from them. It also includes other investments, financial assets, business holdings, art collections and all other forms of personal wealth that would be affected by the billionaire tax or any future wealth tax.
Newsom’s decision to support Prop. 42 runs counter to his own Democratic Party and some labor unions. It also aligns him with some of the wealthy tech donors with whom he’s maintained longstanding relationships dating back to his days as mayor of San Francisco.



“vote blue no matter who” they say….
At least that nonsense is starting to fall apart and Americans are being more active with primaries.
It’s actually part of the intention, not contrary. If you’re in the “vote blue, no matter who” mindset, then you’re looking at the primary as your election. You don’t get to decide to not vote on Election Day; you’re already going to vote for the Democratic nominee. So you get involved in the primaries.
What’s the alternative in the short term?
short term? since when has short term thinking been a virtue? your short term options are bad or worse, it’s not even “incremental progress tm”. you probly should start thinking long term if you are still interested in progress
Ok…but what about the short term? Do nothing? Let lifetime conservative judges be appointed that will affect generations ahead?