A coalition of billionaires led by Google co-founder Sergey Brin is reportedly planning a massive campaign to defeat a proposed state wealth tax. The coalition has reserved nearly $87 million in television advertising time across California, as per a report by The New York Times. This signals the start of a ‘battle’ over a November ballot initiative that would slap a one-time tax on California residents with a net worth of $1 billion or more.The ad campaign is set to kick off next month, and reportedly represents the opening salvo in a political war that has deeply divided Silicon Valley, state lawmakers and labor unions. Citing tracking data from AdImpact, the coalition – operating under the name Building A Better California – has already locked in $86.9 million for TV ads. The campaign will scale up, with over $53 million allocated for September alone.Industry experts expect the total cost of the campaign to climb significantly higher, as the current buy includes only $3.7 million reserved for October, traditionally the heaviest month for political advertising in California, the report said.Citing state campaign finance records, the report says that Brin has personally funneled roughly $82 million, emerging as the primary leader of the pushback. Brin has recruited other prominent Silicon Valley figures to join the cause, including venture capital titans John Doerr and Michael Moritz.
Billionaires’ ‘counter measure’ strategy
Rather than simply campaigning against the wealth tax, Brin’s coalition has executed a classic California political maneuver: placing two competing tax measures on the same ballot to invalidate or confuse the original proposal. Under California law, if both the billionaire tax and a conflicting counter-measure pass in November, the initiative that receives the highest total number of “yes” votes takes effect.“Our coalition is committed to ensuring that all California voters are informed about policies that impact our state’s future and economy. The measures we support provide important and common-sense protections designed to improve state accountability and governance and protect California families from new taxes on their retirement and savings,” said coalition spokeswoman Abby Lunardini.The proposed wealth tax, Proposition 40, is backed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), which spent $31 million to place the measure on the ballot. The measure has drawn support from progressive leaders, including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.