Billionaire Tax Now Coalition calls for a common-sense measure to save jobs and keep local emergency rooms open through a one-time tax on billionaires
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Frontline healthcare workers across California reacted to Jeff Bezos this week after the controversial billionaire made tone-deaf comments that billionaire taxes won’t help working families.
During a recent televised interview on CNBC, Bezos dismissed the growing calls for taxing extreme wealth, pointing to a hypothetical “nurse in Queens” who wouldn’t be helped by taxing billionaires more. “That nurse in Queens … it’s not going to help her at all,” he said.
Debru Carthan from the California Billionaire Tax Now Coalition shot back, “We know a few frontline healthcare workers in California who would disagree.”
Bezos made the comments to CNBC after he was criticized for not paying enough in taxes. Making him pay more is no solution on its own, Bezos insisted.
The California Billionaire Tax Now Coalition lambasted Bezos — the world’s fourth-richest person — for ignoring the devastating reality facing working families across California as hospitals, clinics, emergency services, and healthcare programs face deep cuts and closures amid growing economic inequality and federal healthcare reductions.
“Billionaires lecturing working people about the economy from private jets and lavish estates while we’re watching hospitals close, healthcare costs skyrocket, and families lose access to lifesaving care, is pretty rich — almost as rich as Jeff Bezos,” added Carthan, Vice President of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, one of the lead sponsors of the California Billionaire Tax Act.
During the interview, Bezos argued that increasing taxes on billionaires would not meaningfully help working people and claimed that government spending is the real problem. But supporters of the California Billionaire Tax say California billionaires have already walked away with their massive tax cut while the state’s healthcare system is under enormous strain in the aftermath. Without bold action, vulnerable communities will pay the price.
The California Billionaire Tax Act is gaining the support of more community-based organizations and elected officials each week as a one-time emergency tax designed to ensure that billionaires pay their fair share to stabilize and protect the state’s healthcare system, including hospitals, nursing homes, community health centers, and home care services.
The more than 400 hospitals statewide have already laid off more than 3,400 healthcare workers as of mid-March, with a second wave of layoffs expected as funding cuts tied to recent federal policy changes are phased in over the next several years. Statewide, projections show the cuts could result in the loss of more than 200,000 jobs, including 145,000 healthcare jobs — impacting hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and home care providers alike.
In November, California voters will at last have a chance to make billionaires pay their fair share to help prevent that, through a commonsense ballot initiative that places a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of approximately 200 billionaires who reside in the Golden State. Ninety percent of that funding will go to offset Medi-Cal cuts in order to prevent ER and other service closures, and 10% will go toward funding food assistance and public education.
About the California Billionaire Tax Act
The California Billionaire Tax Act proposes a one-time emergency tax on the wealth of the state’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals to safeguard Medi-Cal, keep hospitals and emergency rooms open, 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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