By admin 
California Young Democrats announced Sunday the group voted to back a proposed billionaire wealth tax in July, giving Proposition 40 a lift ahead of a crucial vote by the state party later on Sunday.
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The wealth tax also won official support from the state party’s resolutions committee Saturday night after a contentious, 90-minute debate, setting up what’s likely to be a fierce fight Sunday for the official party endorsement.
The ballot measure would levy a one-time, 5% tax on billionaires and direct 90% of the revenue to address healthcare cuts caused by a Medicaid overhaul signed by President Donald Trump last year.
The CYD represents Democrats age 35 and under and is an official youth wing of the state party. The group’s president, Maiya De La Rosa, said the endorsement was ratified on July 11.
“Prop. 40 is about making sure that billionaires, who have benefited the most from our state’s economy, contribute their fair share to protect the life-saving medical care that millions of Californians rely on every day,” De La Rosa said in a statement.
The next few days represent an important inflection point for Prop. 40, which is being driven by SEIU United Healthworkers West and backed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont. The union is working to expand its broader coalition in the face of opposition that includes Gov. Gavin Newsom, both candidates for governor, the California Teachers Association, and business groups.
On Wednesday, the California SEIU voted to stay neutral on the measure.
The Saturday night vote by Democrats’ resolutions party highlighted divisions over the issue, with backers arguing California faced an immediate health and economic crisis if it didn’t act, and critics describing the proposal as well-intentioned, but poorly executed.
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The majority of the committee voiced concern about what they saw as a lack of alternatives to the billionaire tax to counter cuts under the 2025 Republican megabill.
Chris Hannan, the president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, which opposes Prop. 40, told the committee that their alternative was for Democrats to take back the House of Representatives in the November midterms.
“We need to win back Congress,” he said. “We need to hold the president accountable.”
That answer failed to satisfy board member Michael Lullen, who also serves as mayor of Calipatria.
“There should be no billionaire community,” Lullen said. “So let’s go after them and let’s tax the hell out of them.”
Sunday’s vote by members of the California Democratic Party’s broader executive board offers a more important test of the measure’s support in the party. And on Tuesday, delegates of the roughly 1,300 unions that belong to the California Federation of Labor Unions will also decide whether to back Prop. 40.
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