A key architect of California’scontroversial billionaire taxacknowledged this week that the proposed one-time levy may end up becoming permanent.
Economics professor Emmanuel Saez made made the admission during a Tuesday debate againstArthur Laffer, the father of trickle-down economics, at the University of California, Berkeley.
The billionaires tax — proposed by the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West — would impose a one-time 5% levy on California residents with assets exceeding $1 billion.
Supporters say the tax is needed to address healthcare funding gaps tied to cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs implemented last year.
The proposal has yet to formally get on the ballot in November for voters to decide on it, butsupporters recently announcedthat they had the required number of signatures for it to qualify.
The debate’s moderator pressed Saez about the possibility of the levy being more than a one-off, noting thatprevious California taxesinitially deemed temporary after the Great Recession ended up getting extended.
“There’s been discussions of having another proposition to make it permanent,” said the moderator, who asked what would make the billionaire tax different.
Saez responded that the current proposal is focused on an “emergency funding need” for health care.
“It’s going to be an experiment. We see the results, and then we decide whether that experiment works, is promising,” he explained.
“If there is another one, I don’t think it’s going to be a one-time tax. You can’t surprise billionaires more than once.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
