With $100 billion in Trump healthcare cuts bearing down on California, coalition urges Governor to lead on guaranteed funding to save patient lives, protect coverage, prevent healthcare job losses, and keep hospitals and ERs open
Sacramento, CA — The Billionaire Tax Now Coalition today released an open letter to Governor Gavin Newsom urging him to lead on a modified 2% version of the coalition’s recently qualified initiative to guarantee healthcare funding, avert a looming collapse of California’s healthcare system, and save patient lives.
The letter comes as California faces $100 billion in Trump cuts to the state’s healthcare system — cuts the coalition warns will devastate patients, workers, hospitals, emergency rooms, community clinics, and working families unless Sacramento acts quickly.
Now that its initiative has officially qualified according to the California Secretary of State, the coalition is making clear that it is prepared to advance a modified 2% version because the crisis is immediate, the timeline is tight, and California needs guaranteed funding now. Recent internal polling conducted by the campaign shows that the 5% version of its initiative maintains a winning double-digit advantage among likely California voters. All other public polls conducted by groups other than the initiative’s paid opposition have shown the popular billionaire tax prevailing in November 2026.
The coalition emphasized that its original 5% version remains a warranted and viable response to the scale of the crisis. At the same time, the coalition said the modified 2% version reflects the urgency of the moment and the need to secure funding quickly to protect patients, preserve healthcare access, and prevent the burden of Trump’s healthcare cuts from being shifted onto working Californians.
“Let’s avoid at least two years of needless patient deaths,” the coalition wrote in the letter. “A massive healthcare crisis and collapse is coming for California. You agree with us on the numbers and how devastating the $100 billion in Trump cuts to the California healthcare system will be — and have said as much.”
The coalition’s letter warns that current budget discussions in Sacramento would ask working Californians to bear the burden through consumer taxes, healthcare cuts, and higher patient costs, while leaving California’s wealthiest billionaires untouched.
“That is not a balanced solution. It’s a choice, and we believe it’s the wrong one,” the letter states.
Leaders of certain groups that have recently voiced initial concerns about the initiative — concerns based largely on misinterpretations of its content — are facing growing grassroots backlash from their membership and donors who overwhelmingly support the initiative.
What’s at stake
According to the coalition, failure to act could result in:
► 150,000 California caregivers losing their jobs
► Countless ER and hospital closures across the state
► 3.2 million Californians losing healthcare coverage
► More than 20 million California consumers paying higher premiums, deductibles, and co-pays as insurance companies shift the burden of federal cuts onto residents
“When hospitals are closed and costs are shifted to working families, patients die,” the letter states. “These aren’t abstractions; they’re preventable deaths. And as healthcare workers, we’re focused on saving lives.”
A modified 2% version to guarantee funding now
The coalition is calling for a 2% wealth tax on California’s richest 200 billionaires to provide a critical two-year bridge while the state works toward a longer-term solution to the healthcare crisis manufactured by Trump’s cuts.
The coalition said its willingness to advance a modified 2% version reflects the seriousness of the moment, not a change in the scale of the crisis. With hospitals, emergency rooms, community clinics, healthcare workers, patients, and working families facing immediate harm from federal cuts, the coalition said California needs guaranteed funding before those cuts become closures, lost coverage, higher costs, and preventable deaths.
“For the good of the state, we are prepared to join you in advancing a two-year solution in the face of this crisis rather than a five-year solution,” the coalition wrote. “We hope you will join us in doing what’s right for everyone.”
California is home to more billionaires than any other state in the nation. According to the coalition, their collective wealth has grown 212% over the last six years to more than $2.2 trillion.
“A 2% one-time tax on that accumulated wealth is modest by any objective measure, especially if it means keeping emergency rooms open and saving patient lives,” the letter states. “It’s more than appropriate at a moment when every other Californian is being asked by Sacramento to sacrifice.”
A call for courage
The coalition’s letter closes with a direct call for Governor Newsom to act, framing the moment as a test of leadership in the face of one of the most damaging federal healthcare cuts California has ever faced.
“Governor Newsom, you have taken bold action when California needed it in the past,” the coalition wrote. “This is one of those moments. The ask is clear. The timeline is tight but achievable. And the payoff — preventing widespread hospital and community clinic closures and saving patient lives — is real and immediate.”
The coalition said both sides already understand the scale of the crisis. The remaining question is who pays: working Californians through higher costs, fewer services, and lost coverage — or the wealthiest billionaires on earth through a modest, targeted tax on accumulated wealth.
“We need you to stand up against one of Trump’s worst and deadliest domestic policy blunders yet — the cuts to California healthcare contained in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’” the letter states. “Let’s save patient lives together.”
The full open letter to Governor Newsom is linked here.
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About the California Billionaire Tax Act
The California Billionaire Tax Act is an emergency initiative to tax the accumulated wealth of the state’s ultra-high-net-worth billionaires in order to safeguard Medi-Cal, keep hospitals and emergency rooms open, protect healthcare workers, expand food assistance, and support public education. The initiative is a direct response to federal healthcare cuts under HR1 that threaten healthcare access and economic stability for millions of Californians.
| Paid for by Save California Health Care and Public Education, Sponsored by Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West. Committee’s Top Funder Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West |
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