One of America’s largest unions has made a public declaration regarding California’s hotly-debated billionaire wealth tax.
Teamsters California and its 250,000 members have formally backed state legislation proposing a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents worth more than $1 billion.
“The fight to pass the California Billionaire Tax is a fight to protect workers’ ability to afford living in California; it’s a fight Teamsters California will continue to lead,” Teamsters California Co-Chairs Peter Finn and Victor Mineros said in a joint press release.
“The same Big Tech billionaires shedding crocodile tears over the idea of paying their fair share of taxes while amassing sky-high piles of cash are exploiting a rigged system that makes delivery workers and bus drivers pay higher rates than the AI executives trying to wipe away our jobs,” they continued.
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The Teamsters’ statement added that the union hopes the tax proposal holds billionaires “accountable for destroying our jobs and robbing families of our healthcare,” as Teamsters California leads “the fight for working people and their jobs by challenging the Big Tech agenda aimed at replacing family-supporting jobs with robots.”
While the initiative has not yet qualified for the November 2026 ballot, the proposal — backed by the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West — would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires, due in 2027, with taxpayers allowed to spread payments over five years, with additional costs, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
If the measure is approved by voters, anyone who was a California resident on Jan. 1, 2026, would owe the tax, according to the proposal.
“Roughly 200 California billionaires hold an astounding $2 trillion in wealth; each of the Billionaires could spend $500 million a year from their interest earnings alone and not touch a penny of their wealth,” Finn and Mineros wrote. “But for the greedy corporations and their billionaire owners, it’s never enough – they won’t be satisfied until they’ve replaced every worker with a robot that fuels their fortunes.”
“The legislative package prioritizes protecting workers and the public from eliminating good jobs with robots, the dangers of autonomous vehicles threatening our community’s public safety and ensuring that our state’s economic growth benefits everyday Californians,” they continued, “not just corporate executives and shareholders.”
A Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West member told Fox News Digital in a statement: “California’s billionaires pay much lower tax rates than what working families pay out of every paycheck. And soon, massive federal healthcare funding cuts in 2026 will collapse key parts of the California healthcare system. Local hospitals and emergency rooms will shut their doors forever because billionaires insist on paying less than the rest of us… With so many people struggling to afford healthcare, groceries, and rent, we are thankful that the Teamsters are supporting the billionaire tax as a commonsense solution that will protect all California families.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s team directed Fox News Digital to recent comments he made to The New York Times, saying, “We have a progressive tax structure, and I aggressively defend it. But this is not that—and we’re already paying the price. One state can’t do this alone. We need a national conversation about progressive tax policy that taxes the wealthy more than the middle class and working people. That’s exactly what California does. We don’t just defend it—we promote it. And it’s the approach this country should be taking.”
As a result of the proposition, several billionaires — some public and others unnamed — have moved assets or relocated from California to more business-friendly states such as Florida. Confirmed examples include Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, investor Peter Thiel and venture capitalist David Sacks.
“One client said, ‘You know, this could be like a $5 billion tax for me,’” The Corcoran Group’s Julian Johnston recently told Fox News Digital. “So they’re moving because of that.”
“They’re all dining and wining together and talking about this proposed tax. And then when the proposed tax gained speed, they then understood that they had to either rent or purchase something out of California to establish residency and reduce their net worth exposure to the proposed billionaire tax,” he further explained.
“It’s a melting pot and they’re all friends. And that’s the thing. The tipping point was when four or five of them bought and three more were going into contract. The rest of them, all their friends are here. And they talked about the office buildings as well.”
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