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As California’s proposed wealth tax moves forward, the anti-tax campaign funded by several of Silicon Valley’s richest figures is beginning to show signs of internal strain.
Those tensions revolve around Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s more than $100 million commitment to the effort — and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s growing dissatisfaction with how Brin’s political operation is deploying that money, the New York Post reported.
Here’s what to know
A defeat inside the California Democratic Party appears to have sharpened Schmidt’s concerns.
The party endorsed Proposition 40 and declined to back Propositions 41 and 42, the competing measures supported by Brin’s Building a Better California.
Proposition 40 would levy a one-time 5% tax on Californians with wealth exceeding $1 billion.
Brin’s group has poured money into Propositions 41 and 42 to counter the move, but came away from the party’s executive board meeting in San Diego without the result it sought.
Through June, the campaign brought in $118 million, including $82 million from Brin.
He gave another $20 million, lifting his total to $102 million, and that contribution was divided on July 24 between the committees for Propositions 41 and 42 after both had already spent nearly $50 million each to secure spots on the November ballot.
“Eric is rightfully upset,” one source told The Post.
More background
People involved with the effort reportedly acknowledged that some donors and advisers now think the campaign has drifted from its initial mission of fighting the wealth tax into a broader bid to influence California politics.
The measures on the ballot cover state spending, audits of public programs, and the speed at which housing, water, transportation, and energy projects can advance.
The coalition has additionally spent $10 million backing Proposition 45, which would fast-track environmental review for major developments under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Supporters argue that the measure would cut red tape and reduce costs, while environmental philanthropist Wendy Schmidt and actress Jane Fonda are helping to lead the opposition, saying it would weaken safeguards.
What’s being done?
Ahead of the November election, Brin’s organization reserved nearly $87 million in television ads across California.
The campaign is still working through political operatives to appeal to Democrats and other voters.
Courtni Pugh of Hilltop Public Solutions, a former director for the Service Employees International Union, was assigned to encourage Democrats to remain neutral on the wealth tax while supporting Propositions 41 and 42.
However, the unsuccessful party vote suggests that heavy spending alone cannot ensure traction.
When a measure is presented as efficiency, affordability, or reform, it can be worth learning how to spot greenwashing and other political packaging that may hide environmental or public-interest tradeoffs.
A donor adviser summed up concerns about the pursuit of broader political influence.
“Once you do that, you’re in a place where you may not be as effective,” they remarked.
Another source put the larger question even more bluntly.
“This is about not only what are you against, but what are you for?”
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