Sanders rallies for California's 5 percent billionaire tax as opponents pass $200 million

Senator Bernie Sanders spent the weekend in California arguing for a one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires, a ballot measure he has called the most important in the country. Politico reported that he appeared in San Francisco and was due in Los Angeles, with a stop for Randy Villegas, a progressive running in a rural swing seat. The measure, Proposition 40, is losing ground in the paid campaign and is far behind on money.

The tax would apply to the assets of people who were California residents on 1 January 2026. SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, which represents about 120,000 healthcare workers, put it on the ballot after talks to pull it failed in June. Backers say it would raise about $100 billion to replace healthcare cuts in the Republican bill President Donald Trump signed last year. They say clinics will close without it. Opponents, including billionaires and business groups, have poured more than $200 million into defeating Prop 40 and passing two rival initiatives written to invalidate the tax.

A Public Policy Institute of California poll last month found 54 percent of likely voters in favour and 45 percent against. That was before the opposition's advertising wave. Ballot strategist Brandon Castillo told a Sacramento panel he would not be surprised to see $400 million spent on one side. The yes campaign is relying on organising and on earned media, which is the gap Sanders is there to fill.

The design is a wealth tax, not an income tax. It is charged once, on assets, and it uses a residency date that has already passed. A billionaire who left California after 1 January 2026 is still in the net if the text holds. That is why the rival initiatives exist. They do not argue the rate in the legislature. They ask voters to cancel the levy at the same election that would impose it.

Governor Gavin Newsom and much of the state Democratic establishment have not lined up with Sanders. Politico described the measure as a split inside a state that usually votes as one bloc on tax questions. Ro Khanna, the Democratic representative from Fremont, is among the backers. The split is the political fact of the autumn: a national figure campaigning against the spending advantage of people who live, or lived, in the state he is visiting.

The $100 billion figure is the union's estimate of yield, not a Franchise Tax Board score published for this piece. The $200 million is money already committed against the measure and for the rival texts, as Politico reported. The gap between those two numbers is the campaign. Sanders cannot close it with a rally. He can raise the share of voters who have heard the yes case before the ads saturate the last month.

November is the election. The residency snapshot is already fixed at 1 January 2026. What is not fixed is whether a 54 percent poll survives a spending ratio that, on the figures published so far, is several times the yes budget. The concrete choice on the ballot is a 5 percent charge on billionaire assets, two counter-measures, and a healthcare union that says the proceeds replace federal cuts. Sanders has picked a side. The count will say whether the rallies moved the 54.