We’ve made a lot of noise about California’s Proposition 40 over the last few months. But today, with just two weeks to go until the election, we’ve turned up the volume big time and released two products—an open letter and a poll—in support of the one-time tax on Golden State billionaires.
Patriotic Millionaires, together with Tax the Ultra-Rich Now (TURN), organized an open letter among California multimillionaires, Californians Proud to Pay, urging their fellow Californians to vote “yes” on Prop 40. Over forty multimillionaires have signed the letter so far. They are certainly “40 for 40.”
Signers hail from all parts of the state and come from a myriad of industries, including finance, tech, consulting, publishing, retail, the arts, academia, and more. Notable signatories include Saikat Chakrabarti, former congressional candidate and founding engineer at Stripe, Inc.; Tim Disney, filmmaker and author of The A.R.C.; George Zimmer, the founder of Men’s Wearhouse; Matthew Cooke, producer and editor of Oscar-nominated documentary, Deliver Us From Evil; and Jaron Lanier, founder of VPL Research, one of the first companies to sell virtual reality products.
Signers made their feelings about Prop 40 clear in the letter: “People like us can afford to live wherever we want. We choose to live in California because we love our state. We are willing to pay higher taxes if it means a brighter, healthier California for ourselves and our neighbors. If there’s a price tag on our beaches, our mountains, our piers, our cable cars, our forests, and our state parks, we’re proud to pay it. As multimillionaires, we’re willing to do our part. It’s past time for billionaires—our thousand millionaire cousins—to do theirs.”
In the video, one of our California-based members, Scott Ellis, explains why he lent his name to Californians Proud to Pay:
The publication of the letter coincides with the release of a YouGov poll on California millionaires that assessed their attitudes towards tax and wealth, including Prop 40. Key findings from the poll include:
- 57% of California millionaires support Prop 40
- 54% support Prop 3, which would permanently extend higher marginal income tax rates on high earners set to expire in 2031, made possible by Prop 30 in 2012 and Prop 55 in 2016
- 60% support higher taxes on those with extreme wealth if they were earmarked for state health and education programs
- 72% think that tax is a vital part of democracy
- 67% think it’s patriotic to pay your taxes
- 56% said they would not leave California if they were asked to pay a little more in taxes
- 53% think all states should introduce wealth taxes to prevent disparities between states
- 78% agree billionaires have too much influence in state elections
If you’re interested, we welcome you to promote these new Prop 40 products on social media. You’re welcome to amplify Patriotic Millionaires’ posts on X, Threads, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube. You’re also welcome to create your own posts using the sample language, graphics, and video we’ve included in this social media toolkit.
We’ll have more to say about Prop 40 later this week. In January and July, we highlighted some key facts about the ballot initiative and addressed some of the major criticisms we’ve seen on it. With the clock ticking, we thought it would be wise to do this one last time, paying special attention to more recent lines of attack we’ve seen against the measure. Until then, we invite you to spread the word about our exciting new letter and poll.
