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They will tax billionaires today — guess who they’ll tax tomorrow

今天他们会向亿万富翁征税——猜猜明天他们会向谁征税？

By Jon Fleischman

作者：乔恩·弗莱什曼

Published April 27, 2026. ET

The most important thing about California’s proposed billionaire wealth tax is not that it targets billionaires.

加州提出的亿万富翁财富税最重要的不是它针对亿万富翁。

It is that it creates a new pathway for Sacramento politicians to tax ordinary wealth in the future without going back to voters statewide.



它为萨克拉门托的政客们开辟了一条新的途径，让他们将来无需再次向全州选民征税就能对普通财富征税。

That is the part voters need to understand before they get distracted by the campaign’s sales pitch.

这是选民在被竞选活动的宣传噱头分散注意力之前需要了解的部分

Today, Californians have a critical protection: If the state wants to impose this kind of direct tax on wealth, it needs voter approval.This measure changes that.

如今， 加州居民享有一项至关重要的保障 ：如果州政府想要对财富征收此类直接税，就必须获得选民的批准。这项措施改变了这一点。

It asks voters to approve a one-time 5% tax on the property of billionaires — but buried in the structure is something far broader. Once this authority exists, the legislature can build on it by a two-thirds vote.



它要求选民批准对亿万富翁的财产一次性征收 5%的税——但其结构中隐藏着更广泛的内容 。一旦这项授权获得通过，立法机构可以以三分之二的多数票在此基础上进行扩展。

And Democrats already control well over two-thirds of both houses of the California Legislature.



民主党人已经控制了加州立法机构两院超过三分之二的席位。

The proposal asks voters to approve a one-time 5% tax on the property of billionaires. 该提案要求选民批准对亿万富翁的财产一次性征收 5% 的税。

So the real question is not whether billionaires can afford it. The real question is whether voters are about to hand Sacramento new power over everyone’s net worth.



所以真正的问题不在于亿万富翁们是否负担得起，而在于选民们是否即将赋予萨克拉门托更大的权力， 使其能够掌控每个人的净资产。

Backers of the measure say they have collected 1.5 million signatures, around twice the number needed to qualify for the November ballot. That makes this measure highly likely to appear before California voters.



该提案的支持者称，他们已收集到150万个签名，大约是达到11月投票资格所需签名数的两倍。这使得该提案极有可能出现在加州选民的投票名单上。

The pitch will be simple: Billionaires have too much money, California has too many needs, and a 5% tax on extreme wealth is only fair.

宣传口号很简单：亿万富翁的钱太多了，加州的需求太多了，对巨额财富征收 5% 的税是公平的。

That argument is politically useful, because it makes the measure sound narrow.

这种论点在政治上很有用，因为它使这项措施听起来范围很窄。

Most voters are not billionaires. Most voters do not know billionaires.

大多数选民并非亿万富翁 ，大多数选民也不认识亿万富翁。

The campaign wants the average Californian to think this has nothing to do with them.

该活动希望普通加州民众认为这与他们无关。

But that is exactly how bad tax policy gets sold in California. First, voters are told it only applies to “the rich.” Then the government builds the machinery. Then Sacramento discovers the original target was not enough.

但加州糟糕的税收政策正是这样推销出来的。首先，选民被告知这项政策只针对“富人”。然后，政府开始构建相应的机制。最后，萨克拉门托发现最初的目标还不够。

Backers of the measure say they have collected 1.5 million signatures. 该提案的支持者称，他们已经收集到150万个签名。

A wealth tax is not an income tax. It is not a sales tax. It is not a property tax in the traditional sense.
It is a direct government claim against accumulated net worth.



财富税不是所得税，也不是销售税，更不是传统意义上的财产税。它是政府直接针对个人积累的净资产征收的税款。

That means the state gets to determine what someone owns, what those assets are worth, and how much of that wealth can be confiscated.

这意味着国家可以决定某人拥有什么财产、这些资产的价值是多少，以及可以没收多少财富。

Stocks. Businesses. Partnership interests. Real estate. Private assets. The whole concept requires a machinery of valuation, auditing, enforcement, and collection.



股票、企业、合伙权益、房地产、私人资产，所有这些概念都需要一套估值、审计、执行和征收机制。

Once California creates the legal and administrative framework for taxing net worth, the fight changes. It is no longer whether the state can tax wealth. It is only how far Sacramento wants to go.


一旦加州建立起对净资产征税的法律和行政框架，争论的焦点就会发生变化。争论的焦点不再是州政府是否有权对财富征税，而是萨克拉门托（加州首府）愿意走多远。

And Sacramento always wants to go farther.


萨克拉门托总是想走得更远。

This is why the fine print matters.

这就是为什么细则很重要。

The measure does not merely impose a one-time tax and then disappear. It creates a constitutional and statutory framework around wealth taxation. That framework is the prize.

这项措施并非仅仅是征收一次性税款然后就消失。它围绕财富税建立了一套宪法和法律框架。这套框架才是关键所在。

Once voters approve it, the legislature gets room to build on it. Lower the threshold. Broaden the target. Change the categories. Capture more people.

一旦选民批准，立法机构就有了在此基础上进行完善的空间。降低门槛，扩大目标人群，改变类别，覆盖更多人群。

That is not paranoia. That is the logical next step once the power exists.

那不是妄想。那是掌握权力后合乎逻辑的下一步。

And if anyone thinks Sacramento’s progressive appetite for new revenue will stop with billionaires, I have an igloo to sell them in Arizona.

如果有人认为萨克拉门托对新收入的渴望会止步于亿万富翁，那我倒想在亚利桑那州卖给他们一座冰屋。

Look at who controls the Capitol. Look at the permanent spending demands by this governor and legislature, who see more government spending as the solution to all things. Look at the constant search for new revenue.

看看谁掌控着州议会大厦。看看这位州长和立法机构提出的永无止境的支出要求，他们把增加政府开支视为解决一切问题的灵丹妙药。看看他们是如何不断地寻求新的财政收入来源的。

A wealth tax is a direct government claim against accumulated net worth.财富税是政府对积累的净资产直接征收的税款。

Then ask whether a future governor and legislature, already armed with supermajorities, would really leave this new taxing authority untouched.

然后问问，未来的州长和立法机构，在已经掌握绝对多数席位的情况下，真的会放任这项新的征税权不被触动吗？

Of course they would not.

他们当然不会。

The campaign will be about billionaires. The consequence will be about power.

这场竞选将围绕亿万富翁展开，其结果将关乎权力。

Voters are being asked to approve a tax that sounds limited, targeted, and painless. But the real effect is to create a new category of taxation, and to move future decisions away from statewide voters and toward Sacramento politicians.

选民们被要求批准一项听起来范围有限、目标明确且无痛的税收。但其实际效果是创造一种新的税收类别，并将未来的决策权从全州选民转移到萨克拉门托的政客手中。

Today the target is billionaires.

如今的目标客户是亿万富翁。

Tomorrow it could be millionaires.

明天他们可能就成了百万富翁。

And after that, anyone with a home, a retirement account, a business, savings, investments, or anything else Sacramento decides counts as taxable wealth.

之后，任何拥有房屋、退休账户、企业、储蓄、投资或萨克拉门托认定为应税财富的任何其他财产的人，都将被征税。

That is the danger. Not just the first bite. The machinery.

这就是危险所在。不仅仅是第一口，还有机器本身。

The fine print is not incidental. It is the whole ballgame.

细则并非无关紧要，它决定着一切。

Jon Fleischman is a longtime California political strategist. His writing can be found on his Substack at www.SoDoesItMatter.com.

乔恩·弗莱施曼是一位资深的加州政治策略家。他的文章可以在他的 Substack 博客 www.SoDoesItMatter.com 上找到。