By admin 
It’s a big week for Proposition 40, the nationally watched proposal to tax California billionaires’ wealth. Opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and a growing coalition of business, labor and civic groups — including four more announced Thursday — the tax faces potentially decisive endorsement votes over the next week.
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On Wednesday, SEIU California opted to stay neutral on the proposed 5%, one-time tax.
The California Democratic Party’s executive committee will vote Saturday on whether to throw the party’s weight behind the measure. And on Aug. 4, roughly 700 delegates representing 1,300 affiliate unions in the California Federation of Labor Unions will decide whether to back Prop. 40 at their biennial convention.
An endorsement by either the Democrats or the labor federation could help broaden the coalition behind Prop. 40, which is being driven by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West’s controversial leader, Dave Regan. Other supporters include Teamsters California, AFSCME California, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Freemont.
Backers argue the tax is necessary to backfill steep healthcare cuts that will come with the Medicaid overhaul President Donald Trump signed into law last year.
“Prop. 40 makes more than 200 California billionaires pay a modest, one-time tax to keep local hospitals and ERs open and healthcare affordable for millions of Californians, and the coalition is actively reaching out to labor and CADEM delegates to make sure they have all the facts about this ballot measure,” Nathan Selzer, SEIU-UHW’s director of communications, said in a statement. “Billionaires are spending millions to sow confusion through misinformation campaigns, but worker and Democratic support for this initiative runs deep.”
The latest tranche of opponents includes California State Council of Laborers, United Domestic Workers, the Association of California School Administrators and California Police Chiefs Association.
In statements, the groups’ leaders largely cited concerns that the tax wouldn’t address their most pressing funding concerns and would endanger California’s long-term fiscal health. Critics argue the measure could chase away high-earners whose income taxes help fund state government.
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“We should be doing everything we can to encourage new investment and job creation across California, not driving it away,” Council of Laborers Executive Director Joseph Cruz said in a statement.
United Domestic Workers President Astrid Zuniga said her members supported the goals of Prop. 40 but were concerned that it didn’t single out funding for in-home supportive services or childcare programs.
“We need a long-term plan for funding these programs so that our communities can grow and thrive for years to come,” Zuniga said.
Opposition to the billionaire tax has brought together Google co-founder Sergey Brin — the fourth-richest man in the world, according to Forbes — Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Xavier Becerra, the California Teacher’s Association, and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
Prop. 40 backers argue those politicians and groups’ leaders are out of touch with their members, pointing to new internal polling showing that 80% of Democrats and 70% of union members back the measure. That poll found 57% overall support for Prop. 40, several points above the 54% clocked by the independent Public Policy Institute of California in May.
An endorsement from the CADEMs or labor federation could move the dial, but a decision to stay neutral could also be meaningful, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California. Grose said the positive polling was a good omen for Prop. 40 backers, but the divisions among left-leaning groups could confuse voters.
“One reason it could go down is if the coalition opposing and supporting is kind of mixed, voters might go, ‘I’m not sure about this, I’m just going to vote no,’ ” Grose said.
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