Californias Prop. 3 tax on top earners holds strong days before election, new poll shows
California voters appear ready to make the state’s “temporary” tax on top earners permanent, even as support for a first-in-the-nation billionaire wealth tax collapses, according to a new poll released less than a week before Election Day.Proposition 3 would make permanent the tax rates on individuals earning more than $371,000 a year.Voters first approved them in 2012 as a temporary measure and extended them in 2016.
Fifty-eight percent of likely voters said they would vote yes after reading the ballot title and label, according to the Public Policy Institute of California survey.Four in 10 said they would vote no.That support has not changed.
PPIC’s September survey found the same split, 58% yes and 40% no.Most Democrats and independents back the measure, while most Republicans oppose it.Support is strongest among likely voters earning less than $40,000 (77%), those aged 18 to 34 (73%) and renters (69%).Majorities in every region support Prop.
3, but the Central Valley is close to evenly split, with 51% yes and 48% no.One of the largest teachers union has bankrolled the yes campaign.The California Teachers Association has poured $58.3 million into the campaign for Prop.
3, which helps fund public schools and community colleges.The union’s contributions make up 87% of the Yes on 3 campaign’s funding.CTA warned of steep cuts if the measure fails.“Failing to pass Prop.
3 and extend this funding would mean an immediate 15% cut to funding for public schools and community colleges, with one in every six educators potentially losing their jobs,” the union said in a statement.“Prop.
3 will not raise taxes on anyone – it extends the current tax applied to couples earning more than $740,000 a year.”Opponents admit they are outgunned.David Kline, vice president of communications and research at the California Taxpayers Association, said the “yes” side’s huge spending made the fight “an uphill battle.” He said he hopes voters will reject ...