California DSA delegates, representing chapters from across the state, have recently voted to endorse the Billionaire Tax Act and the Children's Education and Health Care Protection Act, under a unified campaign to ‘Tax the Rich’.
The Billionaire Tax Act would levy a one-time 5% tax on individuals worth more than $1 billion in order to offset the loss of almost $100 billion of federal funding towards Californian healthcare. Without this funding, thousands of jobs will be lost, millions of Californians could lose coverage altogether, and care facilities across the state could be forced to close.
The Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act would ensure the continuation of the temporary income tax imposed on the top 2% of income earners by CA’s Proposition 55 in 2016. This tax raises between $5 billion and $12 billion each year for children’s education and health care—the loss of that funding would be catastrophic.
The success of both measures would provide much-needed funding to California’s essential services. Thus, California DSA delegates voted to endorse both under a unified campaign to ‘Tax the Rich’.
The gap between the billionaires and the rest of us has never been wider. It is time for the wealth taken from workers to be invested back into our state, to fund our hospitals, schools, and essential services. It’s time to tax the rich.