Middle Class Taxpayers Association Backs The Billionaire Tax

Full original release

California-based national taxpayer rights organization endorses measure that will ensure billionaires pay their fair share to keep local hospitals open and healthcare affordable for millions

SAN DIEGO – Trump’s “Big, Ugly Bill” slashed funding for healthcare in California to pay for more billionaire tax breaks, eliminating healthcare coverage for up to 3.4 million Californians and doubling health insurance premiums for millions more. Clinics across California are closing, hospitals are laying off workers, and life-saving services are being cut. Working families in California are already seeing their healthcare costs skyrocket, and it’s only getting worse.

Now, the San Diego-based national taxpayer rights organization Middle Class Taxpayers Association is entering the battle to save their fellow Californians from these dire consequences – by endorsing Prop 40.

“The Middle Class Taxpayers Association is proud to endorse Prop 40, the California Billionaire Tax Act. Our organization is dedicated to building strong communities, robust local economies, fair taxation, and the wise spending of tax dollars. Our vision is an America where all people have an opportunity to develop their talents and enrich their lives. Unfortunately, our current system has gutted the middle class. At the same time, it has created boundless opportunities for billionaires to hoard vast amounts of wealth to the detriment of middle class families and our shared public institutions. H. R. 1 has now given even more tax breaks to billionaires while slashing healthcare funding, putting California’s healthcare system on the brink of collapse. Prop 40 is a commonsense solution that will make billionaires pay their fair share while preserving healthcare for middle class families across California,” said John Valencia, Middle Class Taxpayers Association Board Chair. 

Not only did the Middle Class Taxpayers Association endorse Prop 40, it also voted to officially oppose billionaires’ poison pill measures, Props 41 and 42. Both would undo the Billionaire Tax, undermining the will of voters and depriving potentially millions of food assistance and healthcare access. 

As Trump’s massive federal healthcare cuts begin to rip healthcare away from millions of Californians, the Middle Class Taxpayer Association is joining a growing list of organizations and lawmakers supporting Prop 40, which makes more than 200 California billionaires pay a modest, one-time tax to keep local hospitals and ERs open and healthcare affordable for millions of Californians.

Billionaires already pay much lower tax rates than what working families pay out of every paycheck. They insist on paying less and sticking the middle class with the bill. 

Prop 40 will enact a tax paid ONLY by Californians worth more than $1 billion, a small group of people who together hold $2.3 trillion in wealth – most of which will never be taxed due to loopholes that favor the ultra-wealthy. 

By voting YES on Prop 40, California voters can raise about $100 billion to replace the healthcare funding Trump and his billionaire donors took from working people to hoard even more wealth. The funds will go to life-saving medical care for seniors, veterans, and families. It will allow millions of Californians to keep their health insurance and not see their premiums skyrocket. It will also help prevent teacher layoffs in our public schools and keep children fed through food assistance programs.

“Time and again, we see billionaires receiving tax breaks and loopholes the rest of us could only dream of while working people get stuck paying the bill. That is simply unacceptable. Families need life-saving care that they can afford. We’re grateful for the support of the Middle Class Taxpayers Association,” said Debru Carthan, Executive Vice President, SEIU – United Healthcare Workers West. 

Voters consistently support the California Billionaire Tax by large, double-digit margins. Prop 40 qualified for the ballot after supporters submitted more than 1.6 million signatures from Californians across the state — nearly twice the number required to qualify — making it one of the strongest citizen-led ballot qualification efforts in California history.

Prop 40 is endorsed by hundreds of elected officials, labor unions, and community-based organizations including U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Judy Chu, the California Democratic Party, the California Federation of Labor, the California Nurses Association, the California Young Democrats, the California State Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Teamsters California, AFSCME California, SEIU-UHW, Committee of Interns and Residents / SEIU, UNITE HERE Local 11, UNITE HERE Local 30, AFT Local 1521, Disability Voices United, Our Revolution California, Oxfam America, Color of Change, and many, many more. 

More than 400 hospitals statewide have already laid off more than 3,400 healthcare workers, and a second wave of layoffs is expected as funding cuts from Trump’s “Big, Ugly Bill” hit healthcare providers. Statewide, projections show the cuts could result in the loss of up to 145,000 healthcare jobs, impacting hospitals, clinics, and home care providers. California has already been grappling with a longstanding shortage of healthcare workers, leaving hospitals and clinics stretched thin even before Trump’s cuts.

Without revenue from Prop 40, these federal healthcare cuts are expected to put an estimated 83 California hospitals and clinics at risk of closure. Cuts and closures have already started, impacting communities from Los Angeles to Oakland to Glenn County. 

About Prop 40, the California Billionaire Tax Act

Trump’s “Big, Ugly Bill” slashed funding for healthcare in California to pay for more billionaire tax breaks. These cuts eliminate healthcare coverage for up to 3.4 million Californians and double health insurance premiums for millions more. Prop 40, the California Billionaire Tax Act, will make billionaires finally pay their fair share in taxes to keep local hospitals and ERs open and healthcare affordable for millions of Californians.

Vote YES on Prop 40 to save lives, tax billionaires. 

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