Why Act in California Instead of Waiting for Washington?

VOTE YES ON PROP 40

Vote Yes on Prop 40. We can work for national change without making California’s response depend on when Washington might take action.

The facts at a glance

Prop 40 creates a state funding mechanism, not a federal tax. [1]

The measure can fund healthcare protection but cannot rewrite federal eligibility rules. [1][2]

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Ro Khanna have documented support for the California effort. [4]

The federal changes are already on California’s agenda

California’s Department of Health Care Services has published a transition plan for the federal law’s new eligibility and enrollment requirements. It warns that about 2 million Medi-Cal members are at risk of losing coverage because of those changes. That makes responding to these changes a practical task, not just a theoretical tax debate. [2]

Prop 40 creates a state revenue source which will be used to protect coverage and address funding reductions. It cannot repeal the federal Medicaid eligibility requirements, but it can give California additional resources to respond within the law. [1]

A national proposal and a state proposal are different choices

A federal wealth tax could have a different base, rate, duration, and legal structure. Favoring one does not establish that temporary state funding has no value. This ballot asks about the specific California measure, not every tax proposal someone might prefer.

The useful questions are concrete: Who pays under this tax? How is the money collected? What the funds will be used for and what oversight applies? Those questions can be answered from the proposal in front of voters. [1]

State action does not promise to solve every federal problem

The healthcare account can support coverage and providers, including steps to prevent or mitigate closures and service reductions. The statute also provides a reserve structure and annual allocation authority. [1]

Those tools are meaningful even though further healthcare policy decisions will remain. Supporting a funding source does not require pretending it is a permanent replacement for every federal dollar or every aspect of federal eligibility law.

There is a reason to base the tax on wealth

Ordinary income and accumulated wealth are different. The IRS’s explanation of capital gains illustrates why holding an appreciated asset is not the same as selling it and realizing a gain. Prop 40’s net-worth approach reaches a different base from an ordinary tax on wages. [1] [3]

That is the affirmative choice: ask extraordinary covered wealth to contribute, while dedicating proceeds to healthcare and related public needs. A proposal to use some other tax base should be evaluated on its own terms, not treated as proof this base cannot serve a public purpose.

National leaders also back California action

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Ro Khanna are named supporters in the campaign’s August 18 release. SEIU-UHW also published a supportive statement from U.S. Senator Chris Murphy connecting a contribution from the super-wealthy with repairing healthcare damage.[4][5]

Their involvement underscores that state action and national advocacy need not be opposites. The reason to vote Yes is the measure’s practical purpose; the documented support shows who has chosen to stand behind that effort.

Waiting is not a funding provision

No hypothetical replacement policy deposits money into the fund created by this measure. Voters can prefer an ambitious national reform and still choose a California tool with defined revenue and spending rules. [1]

Our choice is to take action: help protect access to care now while continuing to seek better decisions in Washington.

A few more answers

The people and institutions behind the evidence

People and organizations backing a Yes vote

Keep reading

CHECK THE EVIDENCE

Sources behind this page

Each reference identifies what it establishes. A cited agency or researcher is not automatically a campaign endorser.

Vote Yes on Prop 40.

Vote Yes on Prop 40. California can protect care while the fight for better federal policy continues.

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