Sanders Renews Federal Wealth-Tax Push After California Measure Falls Short

Proposition 40 would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on billionaire residents to help fund California’s healthcare system. Sanders, an independent from Vermont, cited spending by wealthy opponents including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former CEO Eric Schmidt. He said the opposition outspent supporters on advertising by 250 to 1, then called its success “fleeting” and vowed to pursue a federal billionaire tax.

A February poll by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation found that 80% of respondents supported a federal wealth tax: 2% on fortunes above $50 million and 3% on wealth above $1 billion. Support included 72% of Republicans and 88% of Democrats. Elizabeth Warren, who made a wealth tax central to her 2020 presidential bid, has said a national levy would be preferable to state-by-state taxes. She told The New Republic in January that people seeking to escape a federal tax would have to give up U.S. citizenship and their passport.

French economist Gabriel Zucman, who helped lead the California campaign, told NPR that billionaire spending was critical to the measure’s defeat, citing a deluge of ads across the state. But he said the recent midterm elections and anti-billionaire sentiment could put the issue before the new Congress, with significant progress possible in the next two years.

Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced a bill in March proposing an annual 5% tax on fortunes of $1 billion or more. A separate proposal would tax net worth above $50 million at 2%, rising to 3% above $1 billion; it has 63 Democratic supporters, including Warren, Sens. Adam Schiff and Chris Van Hollen, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Van Hollen told Politico he sees “growing support” among Democrats, adding that a veto by President Donald Trump would show voters “he’s on the side of billionaires.”