In California, the bottom 10 percent of earners make around $16,000 or less annually and yet they pay more than 11 percent of their income in state and local taxes. At the other end of the spectrum, billionaires saw their wealth grow almost 1.5 times from 2023 to 2025 and paid only about 0.2 percent of that wealth in California income taxes.
When California resident Deborah Kraft—whose income falls in the bottom tenth—heard those numbers, she could hardly believe them.
“I don’t even know how to process it,” she said. “It’s just so sad. Our tax dollars are supposed to pay for our way of life. And we should all pay what we owe.”
Tax policy determines more than who pays what. It helps identify whether we can adequately fund the public goods that make our rights meaningful and communities stronger: housing, health care, education and community care.
Our current system especially burdens low-income Californians and communities of color while enormous wealth continues to accumulate at the top. That imbalance can also translate into political power, giving a small number of extraordinarily wealthy people and corporations greater influence over the policies that shape our lives.
This November, California voters will decide several measures that could reshape how the state raises revenue and pays for essential services and that could make tax equity a reality.
Yes on 40: Approve a One-Time Tax on Billionaire Wealth
Proposition 40 would impose a one-time five percent tax on California billionaires to fund and protect essential services like Medi-Cal. This critical measure comes as California faces devastating federal cuts to health care, nutrition, and education—cuts that help pay for enormous tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. The stakes for health care are especially high: without Prop 40, more than 3 million Californians could lose their health coverage.
Meanwhile, a small group of California billionaires is spending hundreds of millions on misleading ads designed to scare voters and protect their vast fortunes—at the expense of our communities’ health and well-being.
But when we stand together, people power is stronger than corporate wealth. This November, reject the billionaires’ distractions and vote YES on Prop 40 for a tax system that works for all of us—and the public services Californians rely on.
No on 41 and 42: Block Unnecessary Barriers and Bans on Public Funding Approved by Voters
To protect their wealth, billionaires and corporate interests have launched “Building a Better California,” a political action committee aimed at defeating Proposition 40 and supporting two countermeasures, Propositions 41 and 42.
Proposition 41 would require audits of ballot measures proposing special taxes and could invalidate taxes that do not comply with state spending limits. Proposition 42 would prohibit new taxes on retirement holdings, individually owned assets and other forms of personal savings—the measure’s primary purpose is to shield billionaires’ wealth from ever being taxed. Both measures could block the proposed billionaire tax if they receive more “yes” votes than Proposition 40.
As of early August, campaigns supporting or opposing these three propositions accounted for more than half of the $213 million spent on all 14 measures on California’s November ballot. Billionaires are using their outsized wealth to confuse and mislead voters—a blatant attempt to protect their tax breaks at the expense of health care and other essential services. But we won’t be fooled — Californians should vote NO on 41 and 42.
Yes on 3: Create Permanent Funding for Schools and Health Care
Proposition 3 would make permanent an existing tax on California’s highest-income earners that is currently scheduled to expire in 2031.
The tax applies to the roughly top two percent of California's highest income earners and has been in place since 2012. For more than a decade, the revenue generated has helped us recover from catastrophic budget cuts and supported universal free meals in public schools and health care programs. It makes sense to keep this source of public funding that has benefited our schools and essential services intact. It’s why we’re voting Yes on 3.
No on 43: Support Local Say on Funding Local Needs
Communities should have the power to advance tax equity and invest in the services they need.
Proposition 43 would take that power away by requiring two-thirds voter approval for local revenue measures that voters themselves place on the ballot. That means a little more than one-third of voters could block investments supported by a majority, making it harder to fund schools, affordable housing and other community priorities.
Put another way, under Proposition 43, a no vote counts twice as much as a yes vote. The winners would be the corporate special interests that would rather not pay what they owe. We’re voting for local say on local needs by voting No on 43.
Tax Equity is About More Than Taxes
At its core, tax equity is about how we share responsibility for the California we want to build.
Public education, affordable housing, health care and other essential services require public investment. How we raise that money — and who bears the greatest burden — has consequences for economic equality, civil rights and our democracy.
We see and feel the consequences of tax inequity in rising health-care and housing costs, the deprivation around us and in the daily struggle to meet basic needs. At the same time, we see a small number of people at the top amassing ever-greater wealth and power – and using that wealth and power to control our democracy and daily lives. The contrast is impossible to ignore: as many people struggle to survive, the wealthiest Californians continue to get richer.
As Kraft put it, “All the things the wealthy complain about—houselessness, and the rest—could be addressed with dignity, justice and humanity if they just paid what they owe.”
This November, California voters have the opportunity to advance tax equity for a fairer, more equal state and fund the services on which we all need to thrive.
