California

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Opponents Have Spent $304 Million to Defeat California's One-Time Billionaire Tax. That Is About 0.3 Per Cent of What Its Backers Say It Would Raise.

A political committee funded mainly by technology billionaires has spent more than $304 million against Proposition 40, California's proposed one-time 5 per cent tax on residents worth over $1 billion, according to a Capital & Main analysis of state records through 20 October. The union sponsoring the measure has put in nearly $32 million. Californians vote on 3 November.

By Daniel Okafor · October 28, 2026

National News

California's Largest State Union Voted 96.2 Per Cent to Strike on 21 October. It Will Not Say How Many of Its 100,000 Members Voted.

SEIU Local 1000, which represents about 100,000 California state employees, said on 8 October that 96.2 per cent of members who voted authorised a one-day strike on Wednesday 21 October. The union has not disclosed turnout, its contract expired on 30 June, and the state labour board has sent the dispute to mediation. No mediation date has been announced.

By Margaret Holloway · October 12, 2026

Explainer

California Will Pay Per Journalist, Because That Is the Only Part It Can Count

The Community NEWS Act has passed both chambers and is on the governor's desk. It pays local outlets a refundable tax credit for every journalist they employ — twenty thousand dollars for the first five, fifteen for each one after — funded by capping the corporate deduction for executive pay above a million dollars.

By Alison Acosta · September 2, 2026