California billionaire tax could cost state $25B

(The Center Square) – The proposed California billionaires tax would cost the state more money than it would bring in if the Golden State’s “golden goose” flocks to other states, according to one Stanford economist. Joshua Rahu, a finance professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, predicted the billionaires' departures would cost California $25 billion. As work progresses on the one-time 5% wealth tax on California’s billionaires, opponents have voiced their concerns about the economic damage that could come to the state if the billionaires tax makes it to the Nov. 3 ballot and passes. “Since this tax is earmarked to a special fund, the state will still have the $93 billion structural deficit even if the wealth tax passes and manages to collect a few billion dollars,” Rauh said in a recent presentation about the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act. “So this tax is not a solution to California’s financial problems.” Accord