NONONO on Propositions 41, 42, 43
Most of the attention on the California state ballot has been focused on the Billionaire Tax, Prop 40, thanks to heavy-handed spending by a dozen superrich reactionaries who are horrified at the idea that any part of their beyond-Gilded Age-level wealth might get redirected to health care for people who desperately need it.
But there are four related measures that require the attention of voters who care about economic inequality and want to address it fairly, since these measures also relate to appropriate taxes for rich people in the Golden State. One, the Education and Health Care Act of 2026 (Prop 3) is a currently existing but temporary income tax on the top two percent of income earners—individuals who make at least $370 thousand, or joint filers who make $740 thousand a year. This top-brackets income tax brought a tidy $14 billion to the state treasury last year. The bulk of its revenue goes to K-12 schools and community colleges. I’ve written previous articles dealing with Prop 3 and so will concentrate on the other three here.
41 and 42: Poison pills for the Billionaire Tax
Props 41 and 42 are designed to thwart the Billionaire Tax, and Prop 43, if it passes, will make it very difficult to raise revenue at the local level.
Props 41 and 42 were put on the ballot by billionaires hiding behind the anodyne title “Building a Better California” to trick voters into nullifying the billionaire tax. This positive-sounding organization is a PAC funded by right wing ultrarich like Sergey Brin.
Prop 41 would supposedly create audits of new state tax revenues and makes them subject to a state cap. The Billionaire Tax will easily earn more than the cap, over which any money is either returned to voters or goes to education. Prop 41 doesn’t mention the Billionaire Tax directly, but it contains a standard California ballot measure poison pill: if it receives more votes than other measures with an overlapping topic (i.e., the Billionaire Tax) it nullifies it.
Prop 42 would prohibit new taxes on personal property including retirement accounts, financial assets or business interests. It deceptively proposes that unnamed “Sacramento politicians” are planning to do this to everyone. The only tax it would apply to—again without naming it—is the Billionaire Tax. As with Prop 41, more votes for Prop 42 than 40 nullifies the latter.
Let us be very clear. These initiatives aren’t about helping California taxpayers, and they’re not about audits or retirement savings. They are about defeating Prop 40. Knowing who supports a ballot measure as well as who opposes it provides excellent context for understanding its purposes. One of Prop 41 and 42’s main funders is Google founder Sergey Brin, who has recently become the third richest person in the world. Brin has already spent a psychotic $100 million against a tax that would preserve healthcare access for millions of Californians. Other sociopathic billionaires have chipped in $50 million more.
Prop 43: a higher barrier for funding local services
Proposition 43, also backed by billionaires and corporate entities like the Chamber of Commerce through their shill, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, would impose a supermajority requirement for all local special tax initiatives. It would require at least two-thirds of local voters to approve any local initiative that would create, extend, or increase a special tax. It applies to initiatives placed on a local ballot on or after January 1, 2027.
This new supermajority vote requirement, replacing simple majority for local citizen-initiated measures, would apply to measures raising revenue for all forms of local government—cities, counties, school and community college districts, and any other local or regional government entity.
Majority rule is the basis of local democracy. Prop 43, if it passes, would represent a giant step backward, and make it easier for giant corporate interests like the Realtors’ Association, the Chamber of Commerce, fossil fuel companies and other similar entities to wreck funding for the things we all need.
Propositions 41, 42, and 43 represent profound threats to California’s future. Putting a lockbox around our cities’ and state’s ability to raise revenue will result in devastating cuts to education, healthcare, public safety and transit and our ability to safely breathe air and drink water. VOTE NO on Propositions 41, 42 and 43.
