The man who could make or break California’s future isn’t Gavin Newsom or Donald Trump — but a powerful union boss many fear is hell-bent on driving$1 trillion in wealth from the state.

Dave Regan, who’s been the head of the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West since 2011, wants billionaires to pay 5% of their wealth to the the state.

But the widely-panned tax already has some of the wealthiest Californians — facing staggering tax bills as high as $12 billion — seriously considering packing their bags for cheaper states.

The proposed tax, which needs 874,641 signatures to land on the November ballot, would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the total assets of approximately 200 billionaires in California.

According to proponents, the tax would raise up to $100 billion in tax revenue over five years

While supporters claim the one-off tax would raise $100 billion over about five years, it’s also widely predicted to drive an exodus of entrepreneurs responsible for tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in tax revenue.

Regan has a reputation as a bare-knuckled operator known for pushing statewide ballot measures as political leverage — and even Newsom hinted at frustration with his tactics last year.

“We have one individual that represents one labor union in the state of California that has not collected one signature that is considering putting on the ballot, after he collects signatures, a wealth tax that the vast majority of labor opposes,” Newsom griped in December at the New York Times Dealbook conference, speaking of the billionaire tax.

It’s not Regan’s first rodeo pushing a divisive voter initiative — a tactic he once called the“best bargain in politics.”

His progressive union has led the charge on vexing ballot questions like whether to regulate the kidney dialysis industry — which California voters rejected three times in a row —along with others, like a $15 minimum wage proposal in 2015 that it pulled after legislators offered their own plan to raise wages.

Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos