“Prop 40: A one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ assets should fund health care.”

The official ballot label reads: “Imposes one-time tax on certain taxpayers. Imposes 5% tax on certain taxpayers with assets over $1 billion; revenue primarily for health care. Exempts revenues from constitutional requirements for school funding and spending limit.” California votes on Prop 40 on Nov. 3. It would tax the state’s roughly 200 billionaires 5% of their assets, once, mostly to cover health care funding lost to federal cuts. Opponents put Props 41 and 42 on the same ballot to undo it, and billionaire money is flowing to both sides. The fight is about whether the tax is a fair fix or a short-term gain that drives wealth and companies out of the state.

Erica Olivo Reynoso, nurse and SEIU-UHW member (agrees): “I see elderly patients scared to get even a simple test or make an appointment because they’re worried about the cost.” She says Prop 40 would help keep hospitals and ER doors open. Ahmad Thomas, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (disagrees): “Prop. 40 makes the wrong bet: temporary money today at the risk of losing companies, jobs and dependable revenue tomorrow.” He agrees that “those needs are real.” California’s nonpartisan ballot analysis (middle): The fiscal estimate is a “temporary revenue increase of tens of billions of dollars” and a “possible ongoing decrease of less than $1 billion per year in income tax revenue from billionaires.”