Millionaire’s tax on its way to California ballot?
Occupy Wall Street protesters may be long gone by November 2012, but labor leaders are hoping that voters’ anger toward the wealthy won’t be going anywhere as the election season unfolds.
For that reason, the California Federation of Teachers and a coalition of liberal allies are moving forward with plans to place a millionaires tax measure on the ballot next year. Millionaires, in this case, are defined as individuals whose annual income is $1 million or more.
Josh Pechthalt, the president of the 100,000-member teachers union, said the monthlong protests that have spread around the globe have bolstered his group’s plan to tax millionaires, which has been in the works since the beginning of the year.
He’s hoping to sell other labor groups and Gov. Jerry Brown on the plan to boost tax revenues for schools, colleges, social services and other programs, but he says his group will move ahead without them if they’re not ready to catch the tax-the-rich wave.
“With the Occupy Wall Street actions, the American public is being educated on the disparity that has gotten so profound, the crisis that has gotten so bad,” Pechthalt said. “We’re committed to this and we want to convince others it’s much needed and the right time to do it.”
The teachers union can expect a big, expensive fight if it continues its push to tax the wealthy, said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.