California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is having a brutal last few weeks.
Last week, Newsom was forced to respond after a woman came forward and spoke publicly about a prior extramarital affair she had with Newsom nearly two decades ago.
Newsom and his wife are also facing increased scrutiny over his extensive use of “behested payments” as federal investigations involving both the governor and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom continue to attract attention.Now, Newsom is scrambling after Democrats just bucked a directive he gave them.
California Democrats exposed a deep internal fracture this weekend when their party’s resolutions committee voted to recommend endorsing a punitive one-time 5 percent tax on the state’s roughly 200 billionaires, openly defying both outgoing Newsom and gubernatorial nominee Xavier Becerra.
The committee’s decision advances Proposition 40, formally known as the California 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, toward a potential official party endorsement ahead of the November 3 ballot.Full approval still requires at least 60 percent of delegates at Sunday’s general session.
Delegates could instead choose, by simple majority, to take no position or to force a separate floor debate.
Whatever the outcome, the committee’s action lays bare a widening rift between the party’s elected leadership and its activist base over how aggressively Sacramento should target private wealth.Newsom has consistently rejected a state-level wealth tax, warning that California would hand a competitive advantage to lower-tax states if it acted alone. Billionaires, he argues, can simply move.
He has instead pushed for a federal version that would close the exit door.
Becerra staked out identical territory on Friday, the day before the committee vote, announcing his positions on several November measures.
He backed Proposition 3, which would permanently extend an existing high-earner income-tax surcharge for education funding, but pointedly declined to support the billionaire levy.
The resolutions committee ignored both men.
That puts the party’s rank-and-file activists in direct conflict with the sitting governor and the candidate seeking to succeed him.
In a state where Democrats control every major office and legislative chamber, the split is unusually stark.
Newsom and Becerra are not fighting Republicans; they are fighting their own party’s left wing.
Proposition 40’s chief advocate is Dave Regan, president of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West.
Supporters cast the tax as essential to replace what they claim are roughly $100 billion in federal healthcare cuts under the Trump administration.
They project the levy would raise an estimated $100 billion from California’s tiny cohort of billionaires.
Outside endorsements have come from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ro Khanna, AFSCME California, and the Teamsters California.The California State Council of Laborers opposes the measure.
The California Police Chiefs Association has also come out against it.
Even SEIU California’s statewide executive board—the broader arm of the same union driving the campaign—recently voted to stay neutral.
California already maintains the nation’s highest top marginal income tax rate.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin, ranked as the world’s fourth-richest person with an estimated net worth of around $267 billion, has now poured more than $100 million into efforts to defeat California’s proposed Billionaire Tax.
The latest contribution of $20 million went to Build a Better California, a group actively opposing the measure that could force him to hand over an estimated $13.3 billion in a one-time hit.Prop 40, the so-called billionaire tax set for the November ballot, would slap a 5% levy on the net worth of roughly 200 ultra-wealthy residents of the Golden State.
Critics, however, see it as a classic left-wing wealth grab that punishes success and accelerates the exodus of job creators from an already overtaxed state.
Yet Newsom’s stance has done little to stop the measure from advancing, and competing ballot initiatives—backed by the same anti-tax coalition—could neutralize it if voters approve them.
One such proposal would mandate audits of any programs funded by new special taxes, potentially complicating or blocking the wealth tax’s implementation.
Brin’s massive spending reflects a broader rebellion among California’s tech elite against the state’s escalating tax-and-spend culture.Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg recently purchased a $170 million mansion near Miami. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, and fellow Google co-founder Larry Page have all relocated out of California in recent years.
These departures underscore how progressive policies continue to drive productive capital and talent to lower-tax states like Florida and Texas.
Prop 40 arrives as California faces mounting fiscal pressure.
Democratic leaders have long relied on soaking the rich to paper over budget shortfalls and expansive social programs, only to watch revenue sources flee.
Build a Better California’s campaign, heavily fueled by Brin’s contributions, aims to give voters a clear alternative: reject the wealth tax and support measures that demand accountability in how new tax dollars are spent.
