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Tax on billionaires qualifies for November ballot — 5 things to know about the measure
Board OKs ‘landmark’ plan for Behavioral Health Services Act By Staff
By Kristen Hwang, CalMatters
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he San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors earlier this month approved what officials called a “landmark” course of action for implementing the state’s Behavioral Health Services Act 2026-29. At their June 9 meeting, supervisors voted 5-0 for the roadmap to guide spending for behavioral health services and system improvements countywide starting July 1 and continuing through June 30, 2029. The plan includes roughly $2.35 billion in projected behavioral health spending across all funding sources and allocates an estimated $915.7 million in BHSA funding plus
This story was originally published by CalMatters.
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union wants Calif ornia’s billionaires to rescue the state’s healthcare system. The billionaires have other ideas. On June 17, an initiative to tax the state’s wealthiest residents qualified for the ballot, according to the secretary of state’s office, which verifies petition signatures. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has consistently swatted down the idea of tax increases throughout his tenure, emerged early as an opponent of the proposed tax. Wealthy allies in Silicon Valley joined the fray armed with deep pockets and threats to leave the state, which depends disproportionately on high earners for revenue. The union funding the measure, Service Employees International UnionUnited Healthcare Workers West, says California needs the revenue that would be generated by the measure to rescue the healthcare system from deep cuts that the Trump administration made last year in the president’s tax reform package, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Newsom is reportedly trying to negotiate a lastminute deal that would pull the initiative before the ballot is finalized on June 25. What would it do? The proposed initiative would levy a one-time 5% tax on California residents whose net worth exceeded $1 billion at the start of this year. The tax would hit roughly 200 people, and billionaires could pay in installments over five years. Proponents of the measure estimate it would generate $100 billion for the state. The revenue would go into a special fund with
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“carryover funds” from the Mental Health Services Act to support services for children, youth, adults, older adults and families who live in the county, county officials reported. Developed with extensive community planning in mind, the board’s spending protocol “reflects input from residents, individuals with lived experience, families, service providers, community organizations, public agencies, educational institutions, healthcare partners and other stakeholders throughout the region,” according to a county statement. The plan aligns with the state’s Behavioral Health
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The Los Angeles kickoff of the California Billionaire Tax initiative in February. | Photo courtesy of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West/Facebook
90% reserved for healthcare spending and 10% for education and food assistance programs. The Legislature would control the funds and could allocate up to $25 billion annually to designated programs including Medi-Cal and CalFresh. It needs a simple majority to pass. Who is supporting it? The state’s largest healthcare workers union is bankrolling the measure, pouring more than $31 million into the campaign. “We are facing literally a collapse of our healthcare system here in California and elsewhere,” Dave Regan, president of SEIU-UHW, said in October when the campaign launched. The union, which is known for wielding ballot measures aggressively, argues that federal healthcare cuts will result in hospital and clinic closures, worsened patient access
and thousands of lost jobs if the state doesn’t step in to backfill tens of billions of federal dollars. The group also points out that the Trump tax breaks for income, businesses and investments disproportionately benefit the wealthy people who would then be subject to the proposed billionaire tax. “Whether or not folks support this, they can’t deny that these massive cuts to healthcare are coming,” said union spokesperson Renée Saldaña. “Nobody else has a solution to fill this massive $100 billion funding gap that is facing California.” Saldaña noted that people signing the initiative petition were supportive and sometimes wanted the tax to be continuous rather than one-time. “This is popular. The See Billionaire tax Page 04
public is feeling the strain of their own healthcare costs,” she said. The measure has won high-profile support from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. A handful of local unions as well as the Teamsters and AFSCME California have also backed the measure. Who is opposed to it? Newsom is an unsurprising and vocal critic of the proposal. He has long argued that increased taxes would drive wealthy people and businesses out of the state. In a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, Newsom claimed that “we’ve already seen dozens and dozens of people leave the state.” Google co-founder Sergey Brin, with a net worth of $300 billion, according to Forbes,
Deputy charged with fatally injuring young motorist while driving recklessly By City News Service
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Riverside County sheriff’s deputy accused of killing a 21-year-old motorist in a wreck caused by the lawman’s decision to drive at exceedingly high speed through a Calimesa intersection was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter, among other charges, authorities said Thursday. Glenn Allen Wilburn, 42, allegedly caused the death of Gavin C. Hinkley last September. On Wednesday, the District Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint against Wilburn, alleging the manslaughter offense, as well as reckless operaSee Deputy charged Page 23
tion of a motor vehicle and a sentence-enhancing allegation of inflicting great bodily injury leading to a comatose condition. An arraignment date has not yet been set for the deputy, who is free on a $40,000 bond. He is on paid administrative leave from the sheriff’s department. According to prosecutors, on the morning of Sept. 6, the defendant was dispatched to a “shots fired” call in Calimesa as he was traveling through nearby Beaumont. The DA’s office said in a statement that Wilburn activated his patrol unit’s “lights and siren” and proceeded