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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday called for a national tax on the country’s wealthiest Americans, unveiling his plan to address growing wealth inequality a day after a proposed billionaire tax — to which he objected — secured a spot on California’s November ballot.
In an op-ed posted on Substack, titled “It’s time for a national billionaires’ tax and a new social compact,” Newsom wrote that it’s “time for an economic reset in America,” posing the widening wealth gap as a critical issue in his economic agenda ahead of an anticipated presidential run.
The Democratic governor’s proposal includes a “true minimum tax on billionaires and those with a net worth of $100 million” as well as a national public equity fund allowing Americans to have a share in the monetary gains generated by the artificial intelligence industry.
Meanwhile, Newsom sought to strike down a ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5 percent tax on residents in the Golden State with a net worth greater than $1 billion. The so-called California Billionaire Tax Act, backed by a labor union, is intended to help offset rising healthcare costs and fund other statewide services.
Newsom said that while he understands “the anxiety driving the wealth tax proposal in California,” he argued the measure was flawed because it dedicates most of its revenue to a single spending category — to offset the impact of federal spending cuts — while excluding other funding priorities including schools and housing.
The governor instead called for a federal overhaul of the tax code, including changes to inheritance laws that he said would prevent the creation of a “permanent American aristocracy of inherited wealth.”
“Wealth is movable, and it shops for the state with the lowest taxes,” he wrote. “The fight belongs at the federal level, where this broken system was created in the first place.”
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