Taxes
Blog
California Has Taken A Wrong Turn — Will It Ever Get Back On Track?
Long before it was even a state, California was the destination for the hard working, the enterprising, the free thinking, the dynamic dreamers who have left their marks in countless positive and useful ways. It was always moving in the right direction, ever upward. But as 2026 winds down, Californians ...
California
Wayne Winegarden Breaks Down California’s Billionaire Tax on the Ray Appleton Show
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Wayne Winegarden discusses California’s proposed billionaire tax on the Ray Appleton Show. He examines what the proposal could mean for investment, jobs, and taxpayers, including why a tax aimed at the wealthiest Californians could ultimately affect families across the state.
California
You’re Next: How Average Families Could Pay the Price from a CA Wealth Tax
This week, Tim is joined by PRI senior fellow in business and economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden to discuss his latest research on how a California wealth tax would jeopardize venture capital investment in the state and set middle class Californians up for inevitable future tax increases.
Business & Economics
You’re Next: New PRI Study Finds Wealth Taxes May Start with Billionaires, But Average Families Could Pay the Price
SACRAMENTO – A new Pacific Research Institute study released today finds that average Californians could ultimately bear significant economic costs from a wealth tax – through fewer job opportunities, weaker income growth and increased fiscal pressure that could eventually reach their own tax bills. The study, “You’re Next: How a ...
California
Making income tax surcharge permanent with Prop. 3 hurts state
Would you move to Florida for $100,000 a year? Because of California’s steeply progressive income tax rates, that’s the question many are asking. For an increasing number of taxpayers, the answer has become yes — which is why Proposition 3 is so consequential. In 2012, voters approved Proposition 30, which ...
California
The Wealth Tax will cost Californians dearly
California has a budget problem. Proposition 40 will make it worse. The November ballot measure promises an irresistible political bargain: Tax roughly 200 billionaires, raise tens of billions of dollars and use the money for health care, education and food assistance. But there’s a catch buried in the state’s own ...
Blog
Bay Area transit tax would lock in flawed spending system for decades
It’s a tax that would run for 14 years and raise an average of $1.2 billion a year. The four northern counties of Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma looked at the deal and opted out. To work around the need for a two-thirds majority, tax proponents funded a petition drive to place ...
Blog
California’s New Software Tax Is Another Step Toward More Digital Taxes
Senate Bill 122 is projected to raise roughly $2 billion annual tax increase on the software businesses use to operate, and its costs will spread far beyond company software bills. Since software as a service supports nearly every part of the modern economy, businesses will have to absorb those higher ...
Blog
California cities turn to tax hikes to deal with overspending
Two years ago, 125 local tax measures appeared on ballots. Ninety, says the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, passed. A number of cities now have local sales taxes that exceed 10%. Several cities in “conservative” Orange County are likewise asking voters to approve various local tax increases. We won’t know until the deadline in August how ...
Blog
‘Like, bye’: Two words that define Wilson’s start as Seattle mayor
Democratic socialist Katie Wilson took office as mayor of Seattle at the start of the year with big promises and lots of excitement. “We have to do big new things,” she said in her inaugural address. “And I’m going to be calling on all the brilliance and creativity and dedication ...
California Has Taken A Wrong Turn — Will It Ever Get Back On Track?
Long before it was even a state, California was the destination for the hard working, the enterprising, the free thinking, the dynamic dreamers who have left their marks in countless positive and useful ways. It was always moving in the right direction, ever upward. But as 2026 winds down, Californians ...
Wayne Winegarden Breaks Down California’s Billionaire Tax on the Ray Appleton Show
PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Wayne Winegarden discusses California’s proposed billionaire tax on the Ray Appleton Show. He examines what the proposal could mean for investment, jobs, and taxpayers, including why a tax aimed at the wealthiest Californians could ultimately affect families across the state.
You’re Next: How Average Families Could Pay the Price from a CA Wealth Tax
This week, Tim is joined by PRI senior fellow in business and economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden to discuss his latest research on how a California wealth tax would jeopardize venture capital investment in the state and set middle class Californians up for inevitable future tax increases.
You’re Next: New PRI Study Finds Wealth Taxes May Start with Billionaires, But Average Families Could Pay the Price
SACRAMENTO – A new Pacific Research Institute study released today finds that average Californians could ultimately bear significant economic costs from a wealth tax – through fewer job opportunities, weaker income growth and increased fiscal pressure that could eventually reach their own tax bills. The study, “You’re Next: How a ...
Making income tax surcharge permanent with Prop. 3 hurts state
Would you move to Florida for $100,000 a year? Because of California’s steeply progressive income tax rates, that’s the question many are asking. For an increasing number of taxpayers, the answer has become yes — which is why Proposition 3 is so consequential. In 2012, voters approved Proposition 30, which ...
The Wealth Tax will cost Californians dearly
California has a budget problem. Proposition 40 will make it worse. The November ballot measure promises an irresistible political bargain: Tax roughly 200 billionaires, raise tens of billions of dollars and use the money for health care, education and food assistance. But there’s a catch buried in the state’s own ...
Bay Area transit tax would lock in flawed spending system for decades
It’s a tax that would run for 14 years and raise an average of $1.2 billion a year. The four northern counties of Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma looked at the deal and opted out. To work around the need for a two-thirds majority, tax proponents funded a petition drive to place ...
California’s New Software Tax Is Another Step Toward More Digital Taxes
Senate Bill 122 is projected to raise roughly $2 billion annual tax increase on the software businesses use to operate, and its costs will spread far beyond company software bills. Since software as a service supports nearly every part of the modern economy, businesses will have to absorb those higher ...
California cities turn to tax hikes to deal with overspending
Two years ago, 125 local tax measures appeared on ballots. Ninety, says the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, passed. A number of cities now have local sales taxes that exceed 10%. Several cities in “conservative” Orange County are likewise asking voters to approve various local tax increases. We won’t know until the deadline in August how ...
‘Like, bye’: Two words that define Wilson’s start as Seattle mayor
Democratic socialist Katie Wilson took office as mayor of Seattle at the start of the year with big promises and lots of excitement. “We have to do big new things,” she said in her inaugural address. “And I’m going to be calling on all the brilliance and creativity and dedication ...