Ro Khanna publishes essay backing California ballot measure for 5% tax on billionaires’ wealth

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) published a Substack essay explaining his support for a California ballot initiative that would impose a one-time 5% tax on personal wealth above $1 billion, according to the essay described by Zero Hedge. The congressman’s argument, as presented in the essay summary, is that the policy rationale should extend beyond billionaires, rather than stopping solely at the top tier, while the state measure itself is structured around the $1 billion threshold.

The Zero Hedge report says Khanna’s essay runs through roughly a dozen paragraphs before clarifying that his support is for the specific California ballot approach. The outlet characterizes the piece as responding to the idea that a wealth tax should be limited to billionaire households, while Khanna’s stated position is that policymakers should consider broader application rather than ending the effort at that level.

In separate reporting referenced through additional research, Mother Jones describes California’s ballot measure as the “Billionaire Tax Act,” placing the proposal on the November ballot and describing it as a one-time levy of 5% on personal wealth exceeding $1 billion. Mother Jones also reports that tech billionaire opponents have threatened an exodus and have backed competing measures, citing reporting that competing initiatives have received substantial funding, including an example attributed to Sergey Brin in an Associated Press account.

Mother Jones further frames the proposal as part of a wider debate over wealth taxation in the United States, noting that multiple federal and state efforts have been introduced in recent years aimed at taxing net worth or wealth concentration. That context situates California’s ballot measure within a broader legislative landscape rather than presenting it as a standalone concept.

Khanna’s essay comes as the November vote approaches, and the dispute over billionaire wealth taxation has been tied by opponents and supporters to questions about capital mobility, long-run economic effects, and the feasibility of taxing unrealized gains or net worth. The ballot measure described in the available reporting centers on net wealth above $1 billion, with the tax described as one-time rather than an ongoing annual assessment.

No court filings, election administration documents, or text of the ballot measure itself were included in the supplied materials here. Because of that, this report limits itself to the terms and timeline described in the Zero Hedge and Mother Jones accounts: a November ballot vote and a one-time 5% tax on personal wealth above $1 billion, as well as Khanna’s stated view that the policy logic should not stop at billionaires.