By Ricardo Roura
The proposal for a tax for billionaires is about to be accepted to be included on California’s ballots in the November general vote, after organizers assured that they gathered enough signatures for it to be accepted.
According to supporters of the proposal, they stated that gathered more than 1.5 million signatures from California residentswhich were presented this Monday.
After the signatures are delivered to the secretary of state’s office, state officials will dedicate themselves to verifying its validity.
Keep reading: California Voter ID Proposal May Make It to the Ballot
In order for the billionaire tax proposal to be considered for the November ballot, requires at least 874,641 signatures (56%) to be confirmed as valid.
If approved in November, it would impose a 5% tax on California residents with wealth greater than $1 billion.
California Billionaires Tax Proposal Has Backing from Major Health Care Union the Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers of the West (SEIU-UHW).
Keep reading: How to secure your ballot after the fires in Los Angeles
“Most Californians and most billionaires recognize how reasonable and necessary this proposal isboth to keep emergency rooms open and to avoid the closure of Californian companies,” said SEIU-UHW Chief of Staff, Suzanne Jiménez.
The tax It is an emergency measure to protect health care in California in the face of federal budget cuts, including those in President Trump’s bill, known as the “Great Reform Act.”
However, critics warned that could harm the state’s business climatein addition to scaring away investors.
Keep reading: Los Angeles residents receive ballots
According to the SEIU-UHW union, California is the state with the largest number of billionaires, with about 200and a large percentage would not agree with the application of this tax.
The proposal also received criticism from several prominent Democrats, including Governor Gavin Newsom. However, he receives greater support from the left side of the party, including former presidential candidate and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
A survey conducted in March by the Citrin Center at the University of California at Berkeley and Politico, showed that 50% would prefer the tax on billionaireswhile 28% would be against and 23% were undecided.
Keep reading:
· “Vote by mail,” Secretary Alex Padilla asks Latino voters
· The pandemic will bring many changes in the US presidential elections.
· And now… Who saves the Los Angeles County firefighters?
