by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Worthy News) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for a national tax on billionaires and a federal stake in artificial intelligence companies, positioning himself closer to the Democratic Party’s populist wing as he weighs a possible 2028 presidential bid.
In a Substack post Friday, Newsom said America needs “an economic reset,” arguing that concentrated wealth and power are threatening the nation’s democratic system. His proposal would establish a minimum tax on Americans worth more than $100 million, tighten rules allowing the wealthy to borrow against stock portfolios without paying taxes, revise inheritance tax laws, and raise corporate tax rates to levels that existed before President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
Newsom’s national push comes as he opposes a California ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The governor warned that a state-level wealth tax could drive billionaires to lower-tax states such as Texas or Florida, weakening California’s long-term tax base.
The California measure, backed by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, has qualified for the November ballot and would target roughly 200 billionaires, with revenue directed largely toward health care, education, and food assistance programs.
Newsom said the battle should be fought at the federal level, where wealthy individuals cannot simply move across state lines to escape the policy. He also proposed creating a national public equity fund that would give Americans a stake in the artificial intelligence economy as AI threatens to displace workers and further concentrate wealth.
Revenue from the plan, Newsom said, could be used to retrain workers, fund universal child care, make college free, and expand health care programs.
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