Only Californians worth more than $1 billion. Currently, that’s about 200 Californians (the top .0005% wealthiest of California’s 39 million residents).

This is a one-time tax.

It is a one-time, 5% tax on the total wealth of each billionaire.

It will fill the healthcare funding shortfall created by HR1 (The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”), passed by Congress this year. Restoring funding means that healthcare facilities will not have to lay off tens of thousands of workers and 2 million Californians will continue to have access to care. In addition, a portion will go to fund K-12 public education, keeping classrooms staffed and ensuring every child gets a quality education.

No, this emergency tax only applies to California’s roughly 200 billionaires. It does not place any new taxes on the middle class, homeowners, or small businesses.

California is a unique place. We have 200 billionaires who live here and who have relied on the advantages of our state to build their immense wealth. Collectively, they have $2 trillion in wealth — an almost unimaginable amount of money. Most of their wealth is invested in the stock market and other holdings and will never be taxed in their lifetimes due to state and federal tax loopholes. A one-time tax on these very wealthy individuals is a commonsense solution to the looming devastation facing our healthcare system.

The 200 billionaires who live here benefit from the advantages of our state to build their wealth. It’s unlikely that a one-time, emergency tax will motivate them to leave.

The law is written to eliminate potential loopholes and includes strong provisions that make evading it difficult. Their taxable wealth includes worldwide assets; therefore, they cannot avoid the tax by moving their assets outside of California.

The best way to describe it is “barely noticeable.” The average rate of growth for the wealth of billionaires in the United States is 7.5% per year. This tax would be less than that amount, so even if they pay it all in one year, their wealth would still increase.