The measure, backed by Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West, would impose a temporary 5% tax on individuals with a net worth exceeding $1 billion who were living in California as of Jan. 1, 2026.Supporters say the tax would generate about $100 billion in revenue, with most of the funds intended to offset federal cuts to healthcare programs for low-income residents, particularly Medicaid-related services.

The California Secretary of State must still verify the petitions and formally certify the measure for the ballot. Organizers said they submitted more than 1.5 million signatures, well above the roughly 875,000 required to qualify.California permits ballot campaigns to pay petition circulators per signature, and signature gathering costs often average around $15 each, making statewide initiatives among the most expensive in the country.

“This is about protecting healthcare access,” said Liz Perlman, executive director of an American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees chapter supporting the proposal. “Hospitals are closing and people will die. Why? So billionaires can get another tax cut that they don’t need.”The proposal has quickly emerged as a national test of public sentiment on taxing extreme wealth and could trigger a multimillion-dollar political fight involving labor unions, wealthy donors and Silicon Valley executives.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has publicly backed the initiative, while Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and prominent California technology investors have strongly opposed it, warning it could accelerate the departure of high-income residents from the state.

Nearly half of California’s personal income tax revenue comes from the top 1% of earners, making the state particularly sensitive to migration among wealthy taxpayers.“After playing with matches since October, the SEIU has succeeded in lighting a ‘Tax the Rich’ wildfire,” said David Lesperance, a tax consultant who advises wealthy clients, some of whom have already relocated from California over concerns about the proposal.

Opponents argue that even a one-time wealth tax would create long-term fiscal risks by encouraging billionaires to shift residency and investment elsewhere.Brian Brokaw, a longtime Newsom adviser leading a political committee against the measure, said the proposal was structurally flawed and would weaken California’s tax base.

“Enacting a so-called wealth tax in just one state wouldn’t target a small group it would impact all 40 million Californians,” Brokaw said. “This proposal trades a short-term revenue bump for long-term losses.”At least 25 billionaires listed in Forbes magazine’s 2025 ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest people either lived in California or maintained major ties to the state, according to an Associated Press review.

Determining tax liability, however, could become legally complex because many own multiple residences across different states.The push for additional state healthcare funding comes after President Donald Trump signed a federal tax-and-spending package last year that is projected to cut more than $1 trillion nationwide over a decade from Medicaid and federal food assistance programs.

The resolutions, introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, aimed to block the sale of bulldozers and bombs to Israel. Both measures failed, with votes of 40-59 and 36-63, drawing unanimous opposition from Republicans and a split among Democrats.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, has repeatedly forced votes on the issue in recent years to pressure lawmakers to reconsider U.S. military support for Israel. Similar efforts in 2024 and 2025 were also defeated, though support among Democrats has risen significantly.

“It’s clear that Democrats are beginning to listen to the average American who is sick and tired of spending billions of dollars to support Netanyahu’s horrific wars,” Sanders said after the vote.Senator Mark Kelly was among Democrats who voted in favor of the resolutions after opposing some previous efforts.

Speaking ahead of the vote, Kelly cited concerns over what he described as “reckless decisions” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, including the expansion of conflict in Lebanon and continued violence in Palestinian territories.

Other Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, voted against the measures.The votes came amid protests in Washington, where nearly 100 demonstrators were arrested earlier in the week during actions urging lawmakers to support the resolutions.

The demonstrations were organized by advocacy groups critical of U.S. policy toward Israel.Earlier on Wednesday, the Senate also rejected a separate Democratic-backed resolution aimed at halting U.S. military involvement in Iran, which failed by a 47-52 vote.

Senator Chris Coons, who opposed the Israel-related resolutions but supported the Iran measure, said his votes reflected an effort to balance criticism of Israeli government actions with continued support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Republican lawmakers argued that blocking arms transfers could undermine U.S. strategic interests.

Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said ahead of the vote that the measures could embolden Iran and weaken Israel’s security.

Large crowds gathered in major cities including New York, Washington, Dallas and Los Angeles, while organizers said nearly two-thirds of events took place in smaller communities, marking a sharp expansion beyond urban centers.

The protests come months ahead of November’s midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.The rallies, the third in a series since last year, follow earlier demonstrations that drew millions of participants. Organizers linked the surge in turnout to opposition against Trump’s immigration crackdown, U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict, and broader concerns over democratic institutions.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, a key focal point amid immigration enforcement tensions, thousands gathered outside the state capitol. Governor Tim Walz told demonstrators their actions reflected “compassion” and “democracy,” while Senator Bernie Sanders warned against what he described as a drift toward authoritarianism.

In New York, actor Robert De Niro, one of the rally organizers, addressed a crowd stretching across multiple city blocks, saying no previous U.S. president had posed a comparable threat to civil liberties.

Musician Bruce Springsteen performed at the Minnesota event, debuting a protest ballad criticizing federal immigration actions.Participants cited a range of concerns, including deportation policies and recent military operations involving Iran.

Demonstrators in Washington gathered on the National Mall with pro-democracy slogans, while smaller groups, including elderly residents in Maryland, staged roadside protests urging resistance to what they termed “tyranny.”In Dallas, clashes broke out between demonstrators and counterprotesters, including a group linked to Enrique Tarrio.

Police reported several arrests after minor scuffles and street blockages.Authorities in Los Angeles also detained multiple individuals after protesters refused to disperse near a federal facility, with law enforcement deploying tear gas after objects were thrown.

Democratic support for the protests, describing them as extreme, while organizers defended the rallies as peaceful expressions of dissent.political stakes riseThe protests coincide with declining approval ratings for Trump, which fell to 36 percent, the lowest level since his return to office, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Organizers say participation is rising even in traditionally Republican states, signaling broader political engagement ahead of the midterms.Leah Greenberg, co-founder of the Indivisible movement that organized the protests, said suburban districts critical to national elections are seeing heightened activity, reflecting growing mobilization among opposition voters.

The demonstrations were also framed by organizers as a response to ongoing military action involving Iran, now in its fourth week, adding a foreign policy dimension to domestic unrest.

Jordanian professor Ahmad Nofal said on Muslim Brotherhood’s Yarmouk TV show on Friday, that “If we liberate Palestine tomorrow, will we leave Jewish synagogues intact?” Then he exclaimed, “No! we will uproot them, along with their people (Jews), and throw them into the sea”.

Professor Nofal is infamous for his inflammatory speeches against the Jewish community. He even claimed that founder of the modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a Greek Dönmeh Jew, and he was not even a Turk.

“Hagia Sophia had been a mosque for 500 years, until the collaborator (Ataturk) turned it into a museum. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had been a Dönmeh Jew from Greece. He wasn’t even a Turk”, he said. “He was a Greek who lived in the Jewish Quarter in Istanbul”.

He made the speech in Arabic for the TV audience, which was later translated in English by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Muslim Brotherhood is an extremist group founded in Egypt in 1928. The key-backers of the group are Qatar and Turkey, however, as of 2015 the group was declared as a terrorist organization by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Russia, and Bahrain. The group’s literature designed by Syed Qutb and Hassan al-Banna is referred as the foundational work for terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS.