Newsom Wants A Tax He Won’t Try At Home

Politician speaking at a press conference outdoors

California Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for a national tax on billionaires — while actively blocking a similar tax in his own state.

Story Highlights

Newsom published a plan on June 26, 2026, calling for a federal minimum tax on Americans worth more than $100 million.
At the same time, he opposes a California ballot measure that would place a one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaires.
Newsom admitted billionaires can simply move to another state to avoid taxes — which is exactly why critics say his national plan is political theater.
Multiple outlets link the proposal to Newsom’s possible 2028 presidential run, raising questions about whether this is policy or campaign messaging.

What Newsom Is Proposing

Newsom posted his plan on Substack, calling it an “economic reset.” He wants a federal minimum tax rate on people worth more than $100 million, ensuring the ultra-wealthy pay at least the same tax rate as their workers. He also wants to end the practice of wealthy Americans borrowing against their stock portfolios to live tax-free. On top of that, he is calling for a national public equity fund to give everyday Americans a share of wealth created by artificial intelligence companies. ^[1]

Newsom also wants to restore corporate tax rates to where they were before the 2017 Trump tax cuts and close offshore loopholes that let big companies shift profits overseas. He claims the top 10% of Americans own two-thirds of the nation’s wealth and warns that a coming $124 trillion transfer of wealth between generations could create a “permanent American aristocracy.” ^[15]

The Glaring Contradiction

Here is where the story falls apart for Newsom. California voters will decide in November 2026 on a ballot measure that would place a one-time 5% tax on billionaires living in the state. Newsom opposes it. His own reason? He says billionaires will just pack up and move to Texas or Florida to avoid it. In his own words: “Wealth is movable, and it shops for the state with the lowest taxes.” ^[5]

So Newsom admits a state-level billionaire tax won’t work because the rich will leave. Yet he wants a national version of essentially the same idea. The difference is that at the federal level, they can’t move to another state to escape it. But Newsom has no power as a governor to pass a federal tax. No major congressional leader has stepped up to champion his plan, and no bill draft or legislative strategy has been released. ^[12]

Presidential Ambitions or Real Policy?

The timing is hard to ignore. Newsom said earlier this year he is “considering running for president” in 2028. His billionaire tax proposal came out just one day after the California ballot measure he opposes officially qualified for the November ballot. News outlets including CNBC, CNN, Politico, and the Washington Post all noted the link between this proposal and his presidential ambitions. ^[2]

Newsom also runs a 25-person Tech Advisory Council filled with Silicon Valley leaders. Critics point out that opposing the California tax protects those tech industry allies from an immediate 5% hit to their net worth. Pushing a vague national plan instead lets him sound populist without actually costing his donors anything in the near term. That is a pattern worth noticing. ^[5]

Why Wealth Taxes Often Disappoint

History gives good reason to be skeptical. The Cato Institute notes that wealth taxes consistently raise far less money than promised. Senators Bernie Sanders and Representative Ro Khanna have their own federal wealth tax bill, which they claim would raise $4.4 trillion over ten years. Independent analysis puts the real number closer to $2.3 trillion — about half — once you account for how people change their behavior to avoid the tax. ^[22]

Newsom’s plan is even vaguer. He has not named a specific tax rate. He has not explained how the proposed artificial intelligence equity fund would be funded, structured, or governed. What he has done is make a lot of noise right as California voters are deciding whether to tax billionaires themselves — and right as he weighs a presidential run. Conservatives have seen this playbook before: big promises, no details, and someone else’s money footing the bill.