Gov. Gavin Newsom declares war on America’s billionaires while bizarrely opposing California wealth tax

California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a tax on America’s billionaires — while remaining in steadfast opposition to the very same levy on the wealthiest in his state.

After California’s own billionaires tax was approved for the November ballot, Newsom announced Friday that he supports a national billionaires tax “that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay.”

Newsom has long opposed the proposed California measure, which would hit the state’s wealthiest with a 5% tax to cover healthcare costs in the state.

He failed to broker a last-minute deal to keep the controversial tax off the ballot, setting up what could become one of the nation’s most expensive and politically explosive ballot fights over taxing the ultra-wealthy.

“Last night, it became certain that a wealth tax would be placed on the November ballot in California. I’m voting no,” Newsom said on Friday, adding that “the fight to make the wealthiest Americans pay more in taxes is not one we should be fighting state by state.”

“The fight belongs at the federal level, where this broken system was created in the first place,” he said.

Newsom added that he opposes the state tax “because this measure dedicates almost all of the revenue it raises to a single category of state spending.”

He said the tax will not provide public schools, housing, childcare, public safety workers or public universities with more funding.

“This is not how we should set California’s budget priorities,” he said. “We can’t let a single advocacy organization, however well-intentioned, write the state’s tax code on its own terms.”

Turning to a national tax, he said the American people should “democratize” the economy and fix the US tax system.

“That system is the result of decades of loopholes written by lobbyists and upheld by politicians who knew exactly who they worked for,” he said. “The wealthy have their own private tax code full of loopholes and exemptions that most people have never heard of, and they’re counting on politicians in Washington to maintain it and keep quiet.”

Newsom’s proposal for a national billionaire’s tax is a likely bid to appeal to Democratic voters ahead of the 2028 presidential primaries.

Newsom’s potential proposal would be one of the most progressive tax plans on a national scale seen in the presidential race.

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