Billionaire tax rejected on concern squeezing California's ultra-rich would harm the economy

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Set us as preferred California voters have officially rejected the controversial billionaire tax.Proposition 40 sought to impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires’ assets to try to offset federal healthcare funding cuts.Despite the blue wave in the midterm elections, the novel tax on the ultra-wealthy had trailed from the first day of vote counting and was officially rejected on Monday.Roughly 53% of California voters voted against the measure while 47% voted for it, the Associated Press said as it declared that California voters had rejected the measure.Although the tax was rejected in the vast majority of counties, the final tally showed major pockets of support in Los Angeles and San Francisco — home to the lion’s share of the state’s 200 billionaires.

Orange County, however, voted no by a wide margin.Business In one of the most expensive ballot fights in California history, opponents heavily outspent supporters of a billionaire tax to mostly fund healthcare.

On Wednesday, the wealth tax appeared headed for defeat though results on Proposition 40 were too close to call.The political battle over the ballot measure and two competing proposals divided the state and was among the most expensive in California history.More than $400 million had been spent on the three intertwined ballot measures, with more than 90% spent opposing the billionaire tax, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the secretary of state’s office.Billionaires, notably Google co-founder Sergey Brin, poured hundreds of millions of dollars into groups that funded ads to kill the billionaire tax.

California Gov.Gavin Newsom, the California Teachers Assn.

and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California are among the powerful Democrats and other Democrat-aligned groups that expressed fears that billionaires would flee the stat...