California billionaire tax proposal garners enough signatures to head to ballot

Proposal for a one-time 5% tax on billionaires in the state is opposed by Silicon Valley tech titans and Gavin Newsom

The backers of a proposal to levy a one-time tax on California billionaires say they have gathered enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot in November. The initiative has become one of the most politically contentious issues in the state over the past year, spurring tech moguls to spend tens of millions of dollars to oppose it.

The campaign, which is sponsored by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West labor union, has collected more than 1.5m signatures, according to a statement from the organization. The measure required 870,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.