California vs. the tech billionaires

It’s election season, and while most of the national conversation is focused on the midterms and the increasing likelihood that Democrats will take back the House and perhaps even the Senate, in California, the eyes of the tech elite are focused on another target: The ballot measure Proposition 40, aka the billionaire tax.

Prop 40 would enact a one-time 5% wealth tax on the 250 or so billionaires that reside in California, and redirect the funding towards healthcare and education. Predictably, billionaires are furious about the idea; leading opponents include Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who, along with other ultra-wealthy Californians, has spent some $200 million dollars to oppose the measure.

Today, on Blood in the Machine, we’re going to dive into these fights, with the woman who’s at the center of many of them. Lorena Gonzalez is a former state legislator and current president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, and she’s a driving force supporting both Prop 40 and the slate of new laws designed to protect workers from AI.

California Labor Federation

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Billionaire Google Co-Founder Pumps $102 Million Into Fighting California Wealth Tax | Common Dreams

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$200 million-plus spent fighting and supporting billionaire tax - Los Angeles Times

Gavin Newsom backs measure to kill the billionaire tax and ban future wealth taxes

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Google co-founder Sergey Brin spends $102M opposing California Prop. 40 | abc10.com

California’s ‘carpet-bombed’ wealth tax measure runs into a wall - POLITICO

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