Six Nobel Prize-winning economists have endorsed California Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of California residents worth more than $1 billion. The measure is scheduled for a November 3, 2026, vote and backers estimate it could raise $100 billion for healthcare, food assistance and education, while skeptics put the figure closer to $40 billion. California has as many as 250 billionaires worth upwards of $2 trillion collectively. Polls show the measure narrowly ahead, although analysts caution that California ballot initiatives often lose support as campaigns intensify. Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent more than $100 million opposing the proposal and supporting ballot countermeasures that would effectively void it, while Governor Gavin Newsom favors a federal wealth tax instead. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 64% of independent registered voters supported higher taxes on corporations and billionaires.