Tax the rich? California voters are divided, according to new poll

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Set us as preferred The slate of statewide measures on the Nov.3 ballot provides voters two opportunities to tax the rich, which in past years has proved tantalizing to California’s left-leaning electorate.

Only one of those measures has strong voter support, however, and it’s not the proposition that’s attracted nationwide attention, ignited a nearly quarter-billion-dollar political slugfest and created a rift among top leaders in the Democratic Party.Likely voters expressed middling support for Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ assets intended to compensate for an impending $100 billion in federal healthcare funding cuts.

They were far more likely to back Proposition 3, a ballot measure that would make permanent a tax increase on the wealthy that funds schools and healthcare, according to a poll released Friday by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies that is co-sponsored by The Times.Proposition 3 appears to be a much less controversial endeavor, which may explain why it has more voter support.The ballot measure would extend a tax enacted in 2012 on individuals who earn at least $360,000 a year that is set to expire in 2031.

Proposition 40 proposes a brand-new tax on billionaires and is opposed by Gov.Gavin Newsom, who fears that it could hurt the state’s finances in the long run.“When you’re going about taxing the billionaires’ assets, I mean that’s something kind of new and different, and it’s risky, and the governor’s against it, and you know a lot of people are expressing caution about it,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll.Voters are deeply concerned about income disparity but also skeptical about the unusual approach of the billionaire tax.Proposition 40 has drawn the greatest attention and campaign spending of the 14 ballot measures voters will decide ...