To the editor: It’s time to call the billionaires’ bluff once and for all (“Knives are out for California’s golden goose,” Feb. 9).
California’s roughly 200 billionaires had until Jan. 1, 2026, to change their official state of residence in order to be ineligible for the proposed wealth tax that aims to prevent hospital and emergency room closures across the state. There is no evidence to contradict the fact that the vast majority of billionaires have remained in California.
Also, George Skelton’s math just isn’t mathing. The state can raise $100 billion to keep hospitals and ERs open, or it could, potentially, risk hundreds of tens of millions of dollars. Those numbers aren’t even in the same stratosphere. Nobody in their right mind would refuse $1 million if they might have to pay $1,000 after they receive it.
What’s more, credible academic and economist-driven research shows that wealth taxes do not drive the ultra-wealthy to relocate en masse.
In recent years, Massachusetts and Washington state enacted higher taxes on high-income earners and capital gains. Both states now have more high-income residents with more cumulative wealth than before.
Skleton’s column is just plain wrong. It’s time to stop the sensationalist attacks and start focusing on what matters: keeping California’s hospitals and ERs open.
Renée Saldaña, Los Angeles
This writer is press secretary at SEIU-UHW, lead sponsor of the California billionaire tax ballot measure.
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To the editor: As a healthcare worker, I see the cracks in California’s healthcare system widening: longer waits, fewer staff and hospitals running on fumes. When federal healthcare cuts hit, the system won’t bend; it’ll break.
The California Billionaire Tax Act is a lifeline. It would keep hospitals open and make sure patients aren’t turned away. Calling that “bad PR” misses the point — this is about saving lives, not soaking the rich.
Healthcare workers aren’t the villains here. We’re trying to keep hospitals and ERs open for every Californian who might need care, including billionaires and their families.
Andres Gonzalez, Maywood
