California voters to decide billionaire tax proposal in November
As he opposes California's ballot measure, Gavin Newsom is urging a federal minimum tax on billionaires and proposing public ownership stakes tied to AI growth.
California voters will still decide in November whether to approve a one-time 5% tax on billionaires' total wealth, but Governor Gavin Newsom is publicly arguing that wealth taxation should be handled at the federal level rather than through state ballot measures. In a Substack post and video, Newsom called for what he described as a true minimum tax on billionaires, framed as a modern Buffett Rule, alongside tighter rules to stop the ultra-wealthy from using stock-backed borrowing strategies sometimes known as buy, borrow, die. He also called for changes to inheritance rules, a return of corporate tax rates to their pre-2017 levels, and the creation of a national public equity fund so Americans share in gains from artificial intelligence. The intervention came as Newsom, widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, reiterated his opposition to the California measure, arguing that billionaires can relocate to lower-tax states and that a state-by-state approach is less effective.
- Buffett Rule: A policy idea aimed at ensuring very wealthy people pay at least a minimum tax rate comparable to what ordinary workers pay.
- buy, borrow, die: A wealth-management strategy in which people borrow against appreciated assets instead of selling them, potentially reducing taxable income.
- public equity fund: A government-backed fund that would hold ownership stakes in companies so the public shares in investment gains.