US News Metro Long Island Politics

Sports NFL MLB Olympics NBA NHL College Football College Basketball WNBA

Business Personal Finance

Entertainment TV Movies Music Celebrities Awards Theater

Lifestyle Weird But True Sex & Relationships Viral Trends Human Interest Parenting Fashion & Beauty Food & Drink Travel

Health Wellness Fitness Health Care Medicine Men’s Health Women’s Health Mental Health Nutrition

Science Space Environment Wildlife Archaeology

Today’s Paper Covers Columnists Horoscopes Crosswords & Games Sports Odds Podcasts Careers

Email Newsletters Official Store Home Delivery Tips

Switch between CA and NY editions here.

The SEIU declares war on California’s tax base — and its economy

Unions sometimes destroy entire industries when they demand more than companies can afford.

In California, the union demanding a “billionaire tax” might just destroy the state itself.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is one of the country’s most powerful unions, representing government workers. Its California branch is the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West.

Its president, Dave Regan, is the principal organizer behind the “2026 Billionaire Tax Act,” which said this week that it has collected twice the number of signatures necessary to qualify for a statewide vote.

Though the California secretary of state has yet to review and approve the initiative, it looks like the “billionaire tax” will be on the ballot on Nov. 3.

We don’t know how much the union spent to put the tax on the ballot. That will be released by the secretary of state when it has officially approved the initiative.  

What we do know is that the union likely spent a huge amount, both in hard cash and staff time, with expenditures drawing on various union funds.  

The SEIU’s motivation is simple: 90% of the money that would be collected by the “billionaire tax” would be designated for health care spending. In other words, it benefits the union and its members directly.

The SEIU is pursuing that money, notwithstanding recent disclosures of significant fraud in California health care programs, including Medi-Cal, the local version of Medicaid.

After the Trump administration started examining fraud in hospices, California Attorney General Rob Bonta jumped into........

© New York Post