Supporters say it would benefit the majority of the state\u2019s residents and help ensure billionaires pay their fair share. Opponents \u2014 including Gov. Gavin Newsom \u2014 argue it will cause billionaires and the businesses they own to flee the state, taking jobs and tax dollars with them. <\/p>\n
Kauffman echoed those concerns Saturday and said everyone should want billionaires to remain in California.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis tax will drive billionaires out; it already has,\u201d he said. \u201cThe founders of Google \u2014 they left the state and they are taking their money with them.\u201d <\/p>\n
Google is still headquartered in California, but other companies tied to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin recently lef the state, including T-Rex Holdings, which moved from Palo Alto to Reno last year. <\/p>\n
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Two counter-protesters mockingly impersonated billionaires by playing characters they dubbed \u201cOli Garch\u201d and \u201cTrilly O\u2019Naire.\u201d <\/p>\n
(Katie King \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The event attracted a few dozen humorous counterprotesters. <\/p>\n
Razelle Swimmer carried around a puppet of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, brandishing knives and wearing an apron that said \u201cEat the Rich.\u201d Swimmer told The Times she doesn\u2019t believe billionaires need more protections. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf they aren\u2019t willing to pay more taxes, then I don\u2019t really care if they leave,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Other counterprotesters mockingly impersonated billionaires by donning crowns or top hats. A man and woman, playing characters called Oli Garch and Trilly O\u2019Naire, said they worried what would happen if the tax passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a small chance that my helicopter won\u2019t be able to have a sauna in it just because apparently some kids want dental work or something,\u201d said the woman, as she adjusted her tiara. <\/p>\n
At one point, a man wearing a gold crown and carrying a sign that said \u201cLet them eat cake\u201d ran through the crowd shouting, \u201cKeep the poors away from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the main backer of the tax proposal,<\/a> needs to collect about 875,000 signatures by June 24 in order to get the measure on the November ballot. <\/p>\n The Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office, which offers guidance to the Legislature about budgetary issues, has cautioned that the tax might lead to only short-term benefits. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is likely that some billionaires decide to leave California,\u201d the agency stated in a recent analysis<\/a>. \u201cThe income taxes they currently pay to the state would go away with their departure. The reduction in state revenues from these kinds of responses could be hundreds of millions of dollars or more per year.\u201d<\/p>\n California has roughly 200 billionaires, the most of any state. Their collective wealth was $2.2 trillion in October, up from $300 billion in 2011, according to a December report from law and economics professors at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and the University of Missouri. <\/p>\n The researchers concluded that billionaires in the United States pay less in taxes, relative to income, than the average American. <\/p>\n