Governor Gavin Newsom’s Record on Raising Taxes on the Rich Speaks for Itself

Well, Brandon Richards (He/Him), Governor Gavin Newsom’s Deputy Director of Rapid Response, climbs out from under his rock claiming that Gavin Newsom has opposed taxes on the rich for years.

As the Globe reported Friday, California billionaires are leaving the state in record numbers, and taking their billions with them. According to one billionaire, more than $1 Trillion has already left California.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Democrats and the SEIU are pushing a retroactive billionaire tax targeting the roughly 220 billionaires residing in California in 2025, ignoring that these individuals are the most financially mobile and can live anywhere. Expecting them to remain in the state as if they will happily and willingly hand over even more of their wealth surely must be facetious, the Globe reported.

The Left’s & SEIU’s Justification of California’s Billionaire Tax is Tiresome.

This is not a tax — this is asset seizure.@CaliforniaGlobe link 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/dPb4WXVwWI

— California Globe (@CaliforniaGlobe) January 23, 2026

Brandon Richards (He/Him) responded to our article on X about the SEIU’s billionaire tax, where we correctly note that Gavin’s “opposition” was quite delayed.

Brandon (He/Him) replied:

Hey @KATYSaccitizen, why are you engagement-farming by using the Governor’s photo despite his years of opposition to this?

I replied back:

Oh Brandon (He/Him), the governor’s “delayed opposition” to the billionaire tax proposal is well known. Even David Sacks said this… you know, billionaire entrepreneur Sacks who moved to Texas. And Newsom’s gratitude to the SEIU is also well known. A+B=C

Brandon (He/Him) armed himself with legacy media articles:

Katy, was it “delayed” when the Governor opposed it in:

2024? https://politico.com/news/2024/01/10/newsom-wsj-wealth-tax-editorial-shameful-00134850

What about 2023? https://atr.org/gavin-newsom-declares-new-wealth-tax-dead-on-arrival-in-california/?amp

Or 2022? https://politico.com/news/2022/07/29/newsom-wealth-tax-climate-goals-00047722

How about even 2020? https://sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article245672670.htm

Oh Brandon (He/Him), Gavin isn’t going to come right out and support a tax on high earners. The Getty’s would disown him. He buries them in the budget, and gets lawmakers to carry bills. Let me count the ways.

Since 2019, Governor Newsom has increased personal income taxes for high earners.

Gov. Newsom raised income taxes on large corporations.

Governor Newsom signed the 2023 budget bill that contained business tax provisions that the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated would raise $15.9 billion in state revenue from 2024 to 2029.

Newsom imposed a “Mental Health Tax”on annual income over $1 million of, which specifically hurts small business owners the most.

Newsom imposed a payroll tax by removing the wage cap for State Disability Insurance (SDI) tax, affecting high earners (Senate Bill 951).

Governor Newsom even signed a bill that doubled the taxes on sales of guns and ammunition in California, adding an additional 11 percent California tax on top of the federal taxes, making California the only state to impose its own tax on guns and ammunition. Newsom described the legislation as a “first-in-the-nation effort to generate $160 million annually on the sale of bullets to improve school safety and fund a gun violence intervention program.” Yah, how’s that going?

Under Gov. Gavin Newsom, California is and has been inundated in devious plans to raise taxes – on the billionaires, the millionaires, the middle class, the working class, corporations, and small businesses.

Brandon Richards’ (He/Him) position is indefensible. You’ll notice that Brandon (He/Him) does not refute that this is asset seizure of billionaires personal assets. This is communism-light.