LOS ANGELES – Senator Bernie Sanders will formally launch a campaign next week to place a ballot initiative imposing a one-time 5% tax on the assets of California’s wealthiest residents, a move intended to offset cuts to healthcare funding enacted by the Trump administration. The campaign kickoff will be held February 18 at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, featuring appearances alongside prominent musical acts.
Sanders, in a statement released Tuesday, framed the proposed tax as a necessary measure to protect healthcare access for millions of Californians. “This initiative would provide the necessary funding to prevent over 3 million working-class Californians from losing the healthcare they currently have — and would help prevent the closures of California hospitals and emergency rooms,” he said. “It should be common sense that the billionaires pay just slightly more so that entire communities can preserve access to life-saving medical care. Our country needs access to hospitals and emergency rooms, not more tax breaks for billionaires.”
The proposal, spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), requires the collection of nearly 875,000 registered voter signatures by June 24 to qualify for the November ballot. Signature gathering efforts began in January. Supporters argue the tax is crucial to mitigating the impact of federal healthcare funding reductions.
The initiative faces opposition from within California’s Democratic party. Governor Gavin Newsom and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a candidate to succeed Newsom, have both publicly opposed the measure. Opponents contend the tax could stifle innovation and trigger an outflow of wealthy individuals and businesses from the state. Concerns echo those raised following the departures of figures like PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and venture capitalist David Sacks, both prominent Trump supporters, who have relocated from California in recent years.
Sanders’ involvement in the California campaign underscores his continued influence within the Democratic party, particularly among progressive voters. He won the state’s 2020 presidential primary by eight points over Joe Biden, and narrowly lost the 2016 primary to Hillary Clinton. In both contests, Sanders secured over 2 million California votes and relied heavily on small-dollar donations from the state to fund his campaigns.
In June 2025, following President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to California, Sanders warned of a slide toward authoritarianism, criticizing Trump’s actions as an abuse of power and a disregard for the Constitution. He stated, “This guy wants all of the power. He does not believe in the Constitution. He does not believe in the rule of law.” (The Guardian, June 8, 2025). Sanders also accused the Trump administration of attempting to undermine democratic institutions through lawsuits against critical media outlets, investigations into political opponents, and threats to impeach judges.
As of January 22, 2026, Sanders also accused the Trump administration of authoritarian behavior after it moved to scrutinize federal funding for programs, according to a Facebook post by GoMcGill.
