California voters have turned down Proposition 40, the proposed one-time tax on the net worth of the state's billionaires. The Associated Press determined on Monday, Nov. 9, that the "no" side had enough votes to win, according to AP reporting carried by KCRA.
The latest Secretary of State count, updated at 7:18 p.m. Monday, shows 5,909,899 votes against the measure (52.8%) and 5,288,424 in favor (47.2%). The figures are unofficial until certified; mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if they arrive within a week.
Alameda County went the other way
Voters in Alameda County, which includes Pleasanton, supported the measure. The county's results posted to the state site show 317,274 yes votes (57.8%) and 232,062 no votes (42.2%). The state data does not break the vote out by city.
What the measure would have done
Prop. 40 would have levied a single 5% charge on the holdings of California residents worth more than $1 billion. Under the AP's description, 90% of the money was to go to health care and the remaining 10% to schools and food assistance.
The initiative's sponsor, the SEIU United Healthcare Workers West union, said it would raise $100 billion and argued it was needed to make up for federal health care cuts.
What each side said
The union signaled it is not done. "That's not a hypothetical. That's our plan," SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan told CalMatters, referring to a possible 2028 measure if state lawmakers do not come up with another way to fund health care.
In a statement quoted by the AP, backers said "buying an election is not the same as winning the debate" and called the result "only round one." The Yes campaign raised $33.5 million, CalMatters reported.
Opponents called the tax "a reckless experiment conducted on our state's economy with little regard for the harms it would cause," a line CalMatters attributed to No on Prop. 40 strategist Evan Westrop. Building a Better California spokesperson Abby Lunardini, whose committee was founded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, told CalMatters, "It was a lose-lose for California, and voters clearly agreed."
