{"id":47335,"date":"2026-03-24T12:55:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T19:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47335"},"modified":"2026-03-24T12:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T19:55:34","slug":"billionaire-tax-author-pushing-for-bigger-broader-levy-on-the-ultrawealthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/24\/billionaire-tax-author-pushing-for-bigger-broader-levy-on-the-ultrawealthy\/","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire-tax author pushing for bigger, broader levy on the ultrawealthy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Troy_Wolverton\">By Troy Wolverton | Examiner staff writer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mar 22, 2026 (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/5\/2d\/52d6258b-1f6e-4a4c-a91f-fbb69779f44f\/698bc5c46da34.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"Brian Galle for 20260322 SFE\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>UC Berkeley law professor Brian Galle: \u201cIt\u2019s just fair for [the richest Americans] to pay the same share of their economic income as the rest of us.\u201dCraig Lee\/The Examiner<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Brian Galle is one of the co-authors of California\u2019s proposed billionaire tax, he said he doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s the be-all-and-end-all for getting the ultrawealthy to pay what he sees as their fair share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/billionaire-tax-author-argues-for-its-fairness-necessity\/article_47e0cf1a-ac8a-4b72-9fce-04a996dffe76.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tax-law expert and law professor at UC Berkeley<\/a>&nbsp;thinks there needs to be a more fundamental, permanent and national change to the way the country assesses the richest among us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute published online \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/rooseveltinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RI_How-to-Tax-the-Ultrarich_Report_202601.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How to Tax the Ultrarich<\/a>,\u201d Galle\u2019s book-length proposal for how to do that. Revolving around what he calls FAST \u2014 short for&nbsp;the Fair Share Tax \u2014&nbsp;his plan would significantly revise how the federal government taxes investments, a crucial part of assessing billionaires and centimillionaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galle\u2019s proposal is designed to make the tax system fairer by upping the often minuscule effective tax rate the ultraweatlhy pay. In doing so, it could limit the growth of wealth inequality while raising hundreds of billions and potentially trillions of dollars, he argues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just fair for [the richest Americans] to pay the same share of their economic income as the rest of us,\u201d he said in an interview with The Examiner. \u201cRight now, they mostly escape from that obligation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galle\u2019s proposal comes as wealth and income inequality globally,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/jointventure.org\/news-and-media\/news-releases\/2800-silicon-valley-index-hot-engine-stalled-growth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">within the Bay Area<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ppic.org\/publication\/income-inequality-in-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in California<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/us-wealth-gap-widest-in-three-decades-federal-reserve\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in the U.S.<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfamamerica.org\/explore\/issues\/economic-justice\/income-and-wealth-inequality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in many other parts of the world<\/a>&nbsp;have grown markedly in recent years and decades. That increasing concentration of wealth&nbsp; \u2014 and the power and influence it often brings \u2014 has led to growing calls,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/03\/18\/wealth-inequality-tax-rich-global-policy-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">even from among some of the wealthy themselves<\/a>, to increase taxes on those at the top of the scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-53.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47336\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, arrive before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Zuckerberg\u2019s Meta and Musk have sought to stop OpenAi\u2019s transition to a for-profit company.Julia Demaree Nikhinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For his part, Galle has been working on proposals to tax billionaires and the richest Americans for years. In addition to his work on the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/technology\/sf-billionaires-march-founder-revealed-derik-kauffman\/article_1842be47-58a5-430c-b322-dff8910aa98f.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">California billionaires tax<\/a>, his new book builds on his previous academic work in the field as well as prior policy plans he\u2019s contributed to, including former President Joe Biden\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itep.org\/president-bidens-proposed-billionaires-minimum-income-tax-would-ensure-the-wealthiest-pay-a-reasonable-amount-of-income-tax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Billionaires\u2019 Minimum Income Tax proposal<\/a>, which ultimately died in Congress.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What Galle\u2019s new proposal and related other ones attempt to rectify is the fact that the ultrawealthy tend to pay exceedingly low tax rates even as their wealth balloons.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The federal income tax is an imposition on wages and salaries, but many of the richest people in the country report relatively modest income from such sources. That\u2019s because for people in that class, most of the growth in their wealth generally comes not from high salaries but from the appreciation of the assets they hold, such as stocks, bonds and real estate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government does tax income from investments through the capital-gains tax, but the rate is significantly lower than the top income-tax rate. People only have to pay the capital-gains tax when they sell assets and make gains on them. And they can wipe out other gains or income \u2014 and any corresponding tax liabilities \u2014 if they sell assets at a loss.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of taking a salary or selling assets, many of the ultrarich fund their regular activities and lifestyles by borrowing against their assets. Even though the cash from such loans is used like regular income, the loans aren\u2019t subject to income taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposed billionaire tax would get around all of that by assessing a direct tax on the wealth \u2014 other than personal property \u2014 held by California residents who have more than $1 billion in assets. Such people would be required to pay a 5% one-time imposition on their assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Politicians such as U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and&nbsp;Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have proposed&nbsp;similar&nbsp;wealth taxes that would be imposed nationwide. Other politicians have proposed what are called mark-to-market taxes, in which people would pay a tax on the amount by which their wealth increased \u2014 or earn credit based on how much it decreased \u2014 each year.&nbsp;Additionally some politicians have proposed treating borrowing used to fund personal consumption as essentially income and taxing it as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The problem with wealth and mark-to-market taxes is that the Supreme Court in a 2024 ruling indicated it could rule both kinds of taxes unconstitutional, Galle and other legal scholars believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 16th Amendment to the Constitution legalized income taxes, but the Court suggested in Moore et ux. v. United States, that it&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/22-800_jg6o.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wouldn\u2019t sign off on allowing unsold assets to be considered income<\/a>. Taxing borrowing as income could face similar constitutional problems, Galle argues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of the Court\u2019s ruling, if you want to have a tax that acts like a wealth or mark-to-market imposition, \u201cyou need to have an alternative structure,\u201d said David Gamage, a law professor at the University of Missouri who focuses on tax law and is one of Galle\u2019s frequent collaborators.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galle designed FAST to be just such an alternative. Unlike a straight wealth or mark-to-market tax, it would be enforced only after people sold their assets, so it would get around the obstacle the Supreme Court hinted at in the Moore case. But people\u2019s tax liabilities would increase in tandem with the returns on their investments, mimicking a wealth or mark-to-market tax. To ensure that the tax only hit the wealthiest Americans, it would exempt the first $15 million of assets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, assuming a base 23.8% rate on long-term investment gains \u2014 the rate applicable to those in the highest income bracket \u2014 those whose assets had doubled in value would pay a tax equivalent to 15% of the total value of their assets. Those whose assets had increased in value by 10 times would pay a tax equivalent to 42% of their assets\u2019 total value. And those who had seen a return of 100 times would owe a tax equal to 67% of their assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under Galle\u2019s proposal, people choose to pay early, before they sell their assets, and even as often as every year. Those that do so would have incentive to do so \u2014 they would effectively pay lower rates on their unrealized gains.&nbsp;That option to pay early would allow the tax to function in practice \u2014 at least in part \u2014 similar to an annual wealth or mark-to-market tax, bringing in regular revenue, rather than only at the time of sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FAST would get around borrowing by focusing on people\u2019s assets. People would have no incentive to sell assets early for a loss to decrease their reported incomes, because the FAST liability applies to all of their assets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reuven Avi-Yonah, a law professor at the University of Michigan who also focuses on tax policy, said he was impressed with the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling, \u201cthis is the most practically feasible proposal that\u2019s out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galle said reforming the federal tax code is important in part to address growing inequality and the political and economic instability that comes with it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ex \/\/ Top Stories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-55.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47339\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/sf-commission-overhaul-proposals-draw-widespread-opposition\/article_b23a019b-79e0-4027-a841-04eeb88c75ce.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">Proposed changes to SF commissions draw public outrage<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Speakers warn that quest for government efficiency could come at the high cost of lost community input, oversight&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-54.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47337\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/trying-cocktails-at-pied-piper-with-journalist-carl-nolte\/article_ed7d3dfc-3ed3-4a97-a9cf-d3dd6c23b48b.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">Pied Piper maintains its history and a locally-famous loyal customer<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco journalist Carl Nolte joined this week\u2019s Sips in The City at one of his favorite bars, Pied Piper in the Palace Hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-56.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47338\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/community\/sf-things-to-do-giants-games-balboa-theater-movies-more\/article_8e26b7a9-a019-4558-9621-0076ebad5f62.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">End of March in The City heats up with these 18 SF events<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The last week of the month brings exhibition baseball, a chocolate festival and a craft fair with more than 250 vendors to San Francisco&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Billionaires make up a substantial portion of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/interactive\/2025\/trump-white-house-billionaires-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the top levels of President Donald Trump\u2019s administration<\/a>, he noted. Some 19% of all federal campaign contributions in 2024&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/09\/us\/billionaires-federal-election-campaign-contributions.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">came from just 300 billionaires or their family members<\/a>, the New York Times reported earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elon Musk alone reportedly&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/02\/01\/politics\/elon-musk-2024-election-spending-millions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spent more than $290 million in that campaign cycle<\/a>, mostly to support Trump\u2019s reelection campaign. Trump subsequently named Musk&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/11\/12\/g-s1-33972\/trump-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-government-efficiency-deep-state\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency<\/a>, which slashed thousands of government jobs and effectively shuttered entire departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-57.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47340\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Elon Musk boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, March 21, 2025.&nbsp;Eric Lee \u00a9 2025 The New York Times Company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat looks like disproportionate power,\u201d Galle said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But he said reform is also necessary to address the fundamental unfairness that results in the ultrawealthy often having effective tax rates that are a fraction of what even middle- or working-class people pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between 2014 and 2018, then-Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet saw his wealth increase by $24 billion \u2014 but he only paid $23.7 million in taxes,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an effective rate of about 0.1%<\/a>, according to the investigative-journalism website ProPublica.&nbsp;Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos\u2019 wealth jumped by $99 billion over the same time frame. He paid $973 million in taxes, or about 1% of that increase, ProPublica reported.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in numerous cases, the ultrawealthy paid no income taxes at all in particular years. Bezos, for example, didn\u2019t pay any federal income tax in 2007 or 2011, according to ProPublica.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 2006 to 2018, Bezos\u2019 wealth grew by $127.8 billion, but he only paid $1.4 billion in taxes, ProPublica reported. By contrast, the report said, the typical American household paid $142,000 in taxes&nbsp;over that same period while seeing its wealth only go up by $89,000, thanks largely to the hits home values took from the Great Recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because the tax rates paid by the ultrarich on their wealth accumulation are so much lower than those paid by everyone else, the tax system is \u201chelping them to become richer faster,\u201d Galle said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In theory, estate and gift taxes should level the playing field, allowing the federal government to take a sizable chunk of that accumulated wealth at the time billionaires or centimillionaires die, and limiting the creation of multigenerational dynasties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that\u2019s not actually what happens in practice, tax experts say. Instead, when someone dies, the cost basis for the investments they hold is \u201cstepped up\u201d to the fair market value at the time of their death. That allows the gains from those investments up to that point to permanently avoid being taxed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the affluent have found legal ways, including using trusts, to pass on much of their wealth to their heirs tax-free. In a previous report, Galle and some fellow researchers estimated that the wealthy&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/download.ssrn.com\/2025\/12\/21\/5193668.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline&amp;X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEGEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIC%2FruY6PNJb6Ie9XDX%2FVU3EDAxMQz3pfLiFwK%2FjrHDRxAiAn288SDWR6ItxwIz2e%2F13YuTIqeIkgIWGXMlDt8VHx7yq9BQgqEAQaDDMwODQ3NTMwMTI1NyIMDUD2lJZU5ZBoEUDHKpoFUUEVMkAr9Se21S6HHS6Vv2MSdgh7QXx5N%2BMZXbI14GsSzugf%2BSotRiOCPyVHyH8e%2BhoJXFv0DXxQIOcTAOivZ5f4ePh0JrhT1TkaQTLHHKX%2Fhl%2B%2B9HxQsn%2FfQNmUckgcyKfkU15Hc1oZqPL2AioM5HoJmq%2BAiycRVspKofZnV%2Fc0RLXXgg0EO6aVUvMEsvrPJzvY6I5jc1tmll376HLavjVRS0%2BKr7b3YeJ1vqNXnUJmg3YnCwyyqUn7yUqqt3fbjPI4SdPcj5%2BPdcnD2pNK6hCv%2BoXXerMWATLPaGKaep5lCBAsL5%2B242Bbv9e29iQrajOXhsvR3Xtfi4ergvTwxjrJG8%2FsoJYJg9p592oWTzLvT1RMDStM0Z1RdPdABpizc8NIPSuCv8kjSn6ubUc%2BH5HIHDthjnqL8HBpT%2FGHCkCibsQPeLjFzDWFwcFWQuVk2slKXt%2Fg0Fgmqf%2B7PNAZ8NBBOViYGUTC%2FagXp2EFX4%2FlfQQgNlOjQdJSXVJxSbCAbI3sTrMqRRYZ9Fd4yUQanSH5%2FQj8Z2PuutZ2SPzFVfgXHQo7jl6MyHSE3R4ncJfeu9X9DlmPlo283dKt7mOwSMEIAAjruKckmCLJ4U%2B0meL2u2Jm0Fh2YNjYDfZ0332b9%2BApe5dpP5nXVZMQNbr8jqNl%2BCNuAXUbwLDkJDKHElXe3f8Av4MUB6285PUS2z%2FEinQLueUip6apt56Hn9JDEodp3f3PvOKYQk0Nm3sbTztfK3%2FU3fxidy4h%2FcPCDBFuh6TBgnKRo8GGa338yqoED%2BGsiq7CJgQ8CA23HR5Io7oT8w%2BgvkMMWhyqzjtiidzBEMbQfsrJYBMIEqcsop8KUsWn8zKoSxu%2Fykja6yGWgSfwRJURX17%2BbrCnMIWs8s0GOrIBq%2FqMMtnXr%2BoO3jNwkKYvCNTcf%2BYo4TTqAhb9AueBt6xI0ikf8fNR3YjgZL4jG7DRHiMC8YEahtMHDRZeRj9D1skl83K6YXgkfJ94bFf6xGDiEJJ068S8w37R5A4%2B6DSwIndR2g%2FvLruuV1dzS3%2FgNtetdxffr%2B%2BGFx4%2BAjSjxOuevxoJ%2FGzJ2t6j32mlgMf7aW0uncfM92tO8%2BVD9aP6XeTd13YIm5%2BHr0Zj4SwL6P2e3Q%3D%3D&amp;X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&amp;X-Amz-Date=20260320T011929Z&amp;X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&amp;X-Amz-Expires=300&amp;X-Amz-Credential=ASIAUPUUPRWEX7PWK7GZ%2F20260320%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&amp;X-Amz-Signature=8360b36370646bf54b95cf57a9bc8866e3df8867dd795ffba0dce2efe513df57&amp;abstractId=5193668\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have stocked away in trusts more than $5 trillion in assets<\/a>&nbsp;that would otherwise be subject to tax but now won\u2019t ever be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Part of Galle\u2019s proposal is to eliminate that step-up provision at death and to have the FAST liability carry over to inheritors. He also would impose a 40% inheritance tax on everything not covered by FAST. But that liability would work much like FAST, being enforced only when people sell their assets, but increasing in tandem with the rise in the assets value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gamage said that he generally likes Galle\u2019s plan, but its increase in liability as assets rise in value over time could give the wealthiest Americans an incentive to game the system. Without provisions forcing them to pay taxes on their gains early, they could try to hold out until they can persuade politicians to change or eliminate the tax or give them some kind of tax holiday. Congress has done similar things numerous times in the past, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would put more pressure than he does on taxing what you can in the interim,\u201d Gamage said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Avi-Yonah said the problem with Galle\u2019s proposal is that it wouldn\u2019t do much to address rising inequality. For him, a better method would be to bolster entitlement programs. The expansion of the Child Tax Credit in 2021 dramatically reduced poverty levels, he noted,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/the-antipoverty-effects-of-the-expanded-child-tax-credit-across-states-where-were-the-historic-reductions-felt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bringing child poverty down to its lowest recorded level ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Avi-Yonah said he advocates not for a FAST or wealth tax but a consumption tax, similar to those seen in Europe, as a way to fund such efforts, because they could easily bring in vastly more revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe key\u201d to addressing inequality \u201cis less taxing the rich and more raising the bottom and the middle class,\u201d he said. \u201cBut both are necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any effort to reform the tax system is likely to nowhere as long as Trump is in the White House and Republicans control the Congress, Galle said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his two terms in office, Trump has pushed through two major rounds of tax cuts favoring the wealthy, including last year\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill. And Republicans have made cutting taxes central to their brand, even at the expense of ever-widening deficits, not to mention income and wealth inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galle said he started working on his proposal before the 2024 election that brought unified Republican control to Washington, but he was thinking of abandoning the effort&nbsp;in the wake of that outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that November, he said, he ended up sharing a cab ride with a Treasury Department official he declined to name who worked under Joe Biden. When Galle expressed his doubts, the official advised him to go forward anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt takes a long time to write good tax legislation,\u201d he said she told him. \u201cYou should get started on it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although Brian Galle is one of the co-authors of California\u2019s proposed billionaire tax, he said he doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s the be-all-and-end-all for getting the ultrawealthy to pay what he sees as their fair share. Instead, the&nbsp;tax-law expert and law professor at UC Berkeley&nbsp;thinks there needs to be a more fundamental,&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/24\/billionaire-tax-author-pushing-for-bigger-broader-levy-on-the-ultrawealthy\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47341,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47335\/revisions\/47341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}