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“The Big Money Show” panel discusses a new report that raises questions about California’s massive mental health spending as homelessness worsens and oversight remains limited.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is strongly rolling back a proposed multibillion-dollar estate tax, warning that the plan could cut funding for schools, public safety and other basic services instead of solving the state’s budget challenges.
“California has the most progressive tax structure in the United States of America. We do… That said, I’m afraid of the way it’s been written,” Newsom said at a Bloomberg News event in San Francisco Thursday evening.
“They loaded me with the facts. The fact is that it will actually reduce investment in education. It will reduce investment in teachers and librarians, childcare. It will reduce investment in fire and police,” he continued. “The impact of a single tax does not solve an ongoing structural challenge that has been exacerbated by the impacts of HR 1.”
The governor spoke in depth about the potential consequences of the proposed multibillion-dollar tax and answered questions about his conversations with those reportedly leaving California.
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Although 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 single tax of 5%. on the net worth of California residents worth more than one billion dollars. The tax would go on sale in 2027, and taxpayers could spread the payments over five years, with additional costs, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
California Governor Gavin Newsom during an interview in San Francisco, California on Thursday. (Getty Images)
If voters approve the measure, anyone who was a California resident on Jan. 1, 2026, would have to pay the tax, according to the proposal.
bending down previous comments opposing the taxNewsom said new data from the Legislative Analyst’s Office shows the proposed estate tax would be a “one-time” windfall, then “over the years, you would see a significant tax cut because taxpayers will move. And that’s what I fear at the state level.”
“There is an impact in terms of the flow of capital, the impacts on the market, which are not negligible,” added the governor. “You have to democratize our economy if you want to save democracy, absolutely. But this proposal by a local (SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West), I don’t think that’s the answer.”
“California’s billionaires pay much lower tax rates than working families pay every paycheck. And soon, massive cuts to federal health care funding in 2026 will collapse key parts of California’s health care system,” Trevor Foreman, SEIU member and hospital safety officer in Sacramento. he told Fox News Digital on wednesday
Corcoran Group agent Julian Johnston talks exclusively to Fox News Digital about the new wave of California billionaires migrating to South Florida due to a proposed estate tax.
“Local hospitals and emergency rooms will close their doors forever because billionaires insist on paying less than the rest of us. In addition, more than 4 million businesses will face steep increases in health insurance premiums, leading to widespread layoffs across multiple industries as employers absorb the higher costs of coverage,” Foreman continued.
Newsom said he has no doubt the union has the willpower and resources to get its measure on the November ballot.
“They have the money … we’ll see,” he said. “There’s a lot of leverage in this. … By the way, someone said to me, ‘You have to veto this.’ I said, well, I can’t, because it’s not legislative. And by the way, the Legislature doesn’t promote it.”
“It’s become a story, even though, to me, it was an issue that we’ve been dealing with for five or six months,” Newsom expanded. “I’ve engaged with the developer directly, indirectly, my staff is constantly working with the person who’s advocating for it. I’ve run into people who feel like they’re being targeted for this, people who have no problem paying more income tax. People who are literally giving away all their money, but want to do it on the timeline that their family has approved… People who are worried about losing control of their unique company. Yes, I’ve run into them all, and they’re all at different stages of his life, his career and his abundance.
“The Bottom Line” panelists Caroline Downey and Brianna Lyman criticize California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s trip to Davos and sound the alarm about a Democratic governor’s “Bottom Line.”
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Asked how he approaches this conversation with California’s 200 billionaires, Newsom said “there are some extraordinarily enlightened people in this category, and there are some who put on a mask.”
“I think they’re also disappointed in some way. I mean, there’s just a lot of anxiety,” Newsom noted. “That’s why we’re doing more in health care, the biggest health care expansion in the country that’s also putting pressure on our Medicaid budget, there’s no question, to absorb and offset that anxiety and stress. But I think that’s unfortunate, and we’re going to continue to advocate for alternatives.”
