Newsom Backs US Tax on Billionaires, but Not His State's

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pitching what he calls an "economic reset for America," and it starts with a new federal tax aimed at billionaires. In a Substack post and video on Friday, the Democrat endorsed a nationwide "true minimum tax on billionaires." The idea is that the ultrawealthy would pay at least the same rate as their employees, CNBC reports, a nod to billionaire investor Warren Buffett's long-touted "Buffett Rule." The governor also urged Congress to roll back corporate tax cuts enacted under President Trump, tighten inheritance rules, and shut down what he described as a "tax-free lifestyle loan" strategy, in which the rich borrow against their assets to slash taxable income.

Newsom's plan includes a "national public equity fund" so "every American owns a stake in the future being built by AI." But while he's backing federal changes, he's still against a California ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaires. Newsom argued that the proposal would send money and residents fleeing to other states and wouldn't fund core programs. "Wealth is movable, and it shops for the state with the lowest taxes," he wrote, per the Guardian. Such battles, he said, shouldn't be waged "state by state."