Rep. Kevin Kiley (R–Rocklin) is weighing in on the debate on California’s proposed billionaire tax, pushing for the federal government to intervene.
Kiley has introduced a bill to Congress in response to the proposed wealth tax to prohibit any state from imposing a retroactive tax on former residents.
The backstory: Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West is proposing a ballot measure to enact a one-time, 5% tax on California’s billionaires.
- The proposal would tax the assets on any California resident who has a net worth of more than $1 billion.
- California reportedly has around 200 billionaires currently residing in the state.
- The tax would backfill federal funding cuts to certain health services and the state’s education system.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–VT) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines this week for being on opposite sides of the issue. Sanders campaigned for the billionaire tax in Los Angeles on Wednesday, while Newsom has warned that California would be put at a competitive disadvantage on the national level.
The big picture: Kiley’s proposal would prohibit states from imposing a retroactive tax on the assets of people who no longer reside there.
- The proposed billionaire tax would retroactively apply to billionaires who lived in California as of Jan. 1.
What he’s saying: “California’s proposed wealth tax is an unprecedented attempt to chase down people who have already left as a result of the state’s poor policies,” Kiley said. “As a result, many of our state’s leading job creators are leaving preemptively. No state should be allowed to reach back in time and impose a new tax on someone who no longer lives there. That is fundamentally unfair.”
