Billionaire tax endorsed by California Democrats deepening party divisions over Prop. 40

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Set us as preferred A controversial wealth tax won backing from the California Democratic Party on Sunday, the latest episode in the measure roiling the left and its allies.The party’s executive board voted Sunday to endorse Proposition 40, which, if approved by voters this November, would impose a 5% one-time tax on billionaires’ assets to pay for healthcare.The measure has proved divisive.While it has support from progressives including Sen.

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep.Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), others including Gov.

Gavin Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, and a growing list of labor unions have come out against it, arguing the one-time nature of the tax and billionaire flight could cause more harm than good to California’s state budget.California The tax, which will appear on the ballot as Proposition 40, drew opposition from unions such as the California State Council of Laborers and United Domestic Workers, while the executive board for Service Employees International Union California voted to take a neutral position on it.“This endorsement puts to rest the idea that California Democrats are not united by the billionaire tax — they are,” said Dave Regan, President of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the labor union that gathered enough signatures to put Proposition 40 on the ballot.Regan cited an internal poll which found more than 80% of registered Democrats support the tax, “and now the Democratic Party of California has officially embraced that strong support through this endorsement.”Public opinion polls have shown the measure with slim majority support.

According to a May poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats said they would vote for the tax.Proposition 40 seeks to raise $100 billion over a five-year span to backfill cuts to M...