After Losing California Tax Fight, Newsom Pushes National Billionaire Wealth Tax

After failing to block a ballot measure that would impose a billionaire tax in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is now proposing a national wealth tax of his own.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom outlines a proposal for a national billionaire wealth tax as he weighs a possible 2028 presidential campaign. (Photo: California Governor Gavin Newsom Facebook)

Newsom—who opposes the proposed one-time levy in California as he considers a 2028 presidential run—said he instead supports a broader national plan, Natasha Korecki reported for NBC News.

His proposal would establish a minimum tax on billionaires, create a national public equity fund that would give Americans a stake in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, and close tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy.

Under the proposal, billionaires and individuals with a net worth of at least $100 million would be required to pay a minimum tax.

"When 10% of the people in this country own two-thirds of the wealth, when we have minted the first trillionaire in human history, and yet your wages have stagnated and your healthcare costs have skyrocketed, something is fundamentally broken," Newsom wrote.

"Over the decades, the American economy has been engineered for the very top, a story as old as time: Money buys influence, and influence rewrites the rules. Those rewritten rules funnel even more wealth to the few. Under this weight, democracy itself starts to buckle."

Newsom unveiled the proposal as he positions himself for a possible 2028 White House bid, with Democratic voters increasingly calling for stronger action to address wealth inequality.

Newsom said his opposition to California's billionaire tax proposal is based on how the revenue would be spent.

The ballot initiative would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of Californians with a net worth exceeding $1.1 billion. It would allocate 90% of the revenue to healthcare, with the remaining 10% divided between education and food assistance programs.