{"id":48781,"date":"2026-06-20T12:57:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T19:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48781"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:57:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T19:57:52","slug":"failing-moral-test-newsom-rejects-compromise-2-wealth-tax-on-california-billionaires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/06\/20\/failing-moral-test-newsom-rejects-compromise-2-wealth-tax-on-california-billionaires\/","title":{"rendered":"Failing \u2018Moral Test,\u2019 Newsom Rejects Compromise 2% Wealth Tax on California Billionaires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"California<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Attendees cheer during an event supporting the California Billionaire Tax Act on February 18, 2026 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Patrick T. Fallon\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want a Democratic party that will stand for the working class,\u201d said Rep. Ro Khanna, a supporter of taxing billionaire wealth. \u201cWhose side are you on?\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jun 19, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> on Thursday refused to budge from his opposition to a proposed wealth tax on the Golden State\u2019s billionaires, swiftly dismissing a union-led coalition\u2019s effort to compromise by reducing its desired 5% rate by more than half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter<\/a> to Newsom on Thursday, the Billionaire Tax Now coalition urged the governor and likely 2028 presidential candidate to support a \u201c2% wealth tax on the state\u2019s richest 200 billionaires.\u201d The coalition\u2019s demand came hours after organizers announced<\/a> that they had collected enough signatures to get their proposed one-time, 5% tax on billionaire wealth on California\u2019s ballot in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"People<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Unlikely Bedfellows\u2019: Left-Leaning Groups Join Newsom-Backed Effort to Sink California Billionaire Tax<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Real<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Real Fight With Oligarchy Begins as Billionaires Tax Qualifies for Ballot in California<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Newsom\u2019s office made clear that the governor, who has been outspoken in his opposition to the proposed 5% wealth tax, would not support the compromise offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe governor has been clear that he is strongly opposed to a California-only wealth tax,\u201d Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom, said in a statement. \u201cChanging the tax rate doesn\u2019t change this measure\u2019s fundamental flaws that harm working Californians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Billionaire Tax Now coalition on Thursday offered<\/a> to withdraw its popular<\/a> ballot initiative calling for a one-time 5% levy on California billionaires\u2019 wealth if Newsom agreed to throw his weight behind legislation enacting a 2% wealth tax instead. Organizers and supporters say a tax on the vast fortunes of the state\u2019s wealthiest residents would help avert a looming healthcare<\/a> disaster spurred by federal Medicaid<\/a> cuts that President Donald Trump<\/a> and congressional Republicans<\/a> passed last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cCalifornia is home to more billionaires than any state in the nation,\u201d the coalition wrote in its letter to Newsom on Thursday. \u201cTheir wealth has grown a staggering 212% in the last six years alone to more than $2.2 trillion dollars. A 2% one-time tax on that accumulated wealth is modest by any objective measure, especially if it means keeping emergency rooms open and saving patient lives. It\u2019s more than appropriate at a moment when every other Californian is being asked by Sacramento to sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need you to stand up against one of Trump\u2019s worst and deadliest domestic policy blunders yet\u2014the cuts to California healthcare contained in the \u2018One Big Beautiful Bill,\u2019\u201d the coalition added. \u201cLet\u2019s save patient lives together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Rep. Ro Khanna<\/a> (D-Calif.), a Silicon Valley representative who has supported the proposed wealth tax in the face of angry billionaire backlash<\/a>, expressed support for the 2% compromise offer in a social media<\/a> post on Thursday, noting that \u201c250 billionaires own half of California GDP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaxing them at 2% would save healthcare for millions. Healthcare\u00a0workers<\/a>\u00a0have already compromised from 5%,\u201d Khanna wrote. \u201cI want a\u00a0Democratic party<\/a>\u00a0that will stand for the\u00a0working class<\/a>. This is a moral test for our party. Whose side are you on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attendees cheer during an event supporting the California Billionaire Tax Act on February 18, 2026 in Los Angeles. \u00a0(Photo by Patrick T. Fallon\/AFP via Getty Images) \u201cI want a Democratic party that will stand for the working class,\u201d said Rep. Ro Khanna, a supporter of taxing billionaire wealth. \u201cWhose side… Continue reading → <\/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":[2072],"tags":[2073,255,1935],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48781"}],"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=48781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48782,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48781\/revisions\/48782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}