California union proposes one-time tax on billionaires to offset Medicaid cuts

By SOPHIE AUSTIN SACRAMENTO Calif AP A major union publicized a proposal Thursday to impose a one-time tax on billionaires in California to address federal funding cuts to vitality care for low-income people Related Articles How cheaters rigged high-stakes poker games with the mob and sports pros according to government Massachusetts Air Force veteran guns situation Funds raised to release Kyle Culotta from jail Contaminated meat was linked to in UTIs according to a survey Ticker Mortgage rates hit -year low Tesla recalls Cybertrucks Trump issues tragedy declarations for Alaska and other states but denies Illinois and Maryland Proponents including the Provision Employees International Union hope to place the statewide measure before voters next year The tax would be on the net worth of California s richest residents A small portion of the money would also help fund K- mentoring since the federal administration has threatened to withhold grant money from masses schools Backers of the measure sent a request to Attorney General Rob Bonta this week to get approval to start collecting signatures The proposal would have to receive more than signatures by next spring to qualify for the ballot in November If it qualifies it s not guaranteed to pass Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom for example has opposed tax hikes in the past including those specifically targeting the rich Proponents of the initiative noted it was critical to backfill cuts to Medicaid because lives are at stake If we do not do this millions of people are going to lose wellness care an untold number of people will go without recovery and there will be tragedy after tragedy reported Dave Regan president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West Billionaires would have to pay for tax year and the money could start being appropriated in The tax would generate billion in revenue for the state backers say The initiative says it s designed to make the State tax system more equitable The big tax and spending cuts law President Donald Trump signed earlier this year will cut more than trillion over a decade from Medicaid and federal food assistance The California Budget and Program Center a think tank in Sacramento estimated the state could lose billion in federal funding a year for Medicaid which would end in up to million people losing their coverage Newsom announced earlier this month that people enrolled in Covered California the state s healthcare insurance marketplace could see their monthly strength care bills nearly double next year as a conclusion of the spending cuts law California has led the nation in expanding access to affordable vitality care but Donald Trump is ripping it away he declared Proponents of the proposed ballot initiative say billionaires have an obligation to do their part We hope that several and perhaps hopefully a large number of billionaires will recognize that it s fundamental in the state where they ve grown their fortune that they have a responsibility to society to preserve the future of California revealed Emmanuel Saez a professor of economics at the University of California Berkeley