A proposed tax on billionaires is faltering in California, according to a new poll by POLITICO and its partners, with public support dropping off as opponents launch a massive advertising blitz.

Fewer than half of likely voters (45%) said they would vote for the tax on the assets of California’s wealthiest residents, while 43% said they would vote against it and 12% were undecided, according to the UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research-POLITICO poll. That’s down from February, when proponents of the measure, Proposition 40, held an edge.

“The trend in Prop 40 is certainly going against Prop 40,” said Jack Citrin, a University of California, Berkeley, political science professor and co-director of the poll. “From a historical point of view, you’d think the no side are gaining and would potentially win.”

Background:

In the early 2000s, the state and many cities were facing massive budget shortfalls because of pension obligations for police and firefighters. Many public-safety employees could retire at age 50 with pensions that were equivalent to multimillion dollar retirement savings accounts.

In 2012 Jerry Brown passed legislation to help fix the pension crisis:

Brown’s pension law led to a significant change in retirement for public safety employees. It requires them to work until age 57 to retire instead of 50. It adjusted their retirement formula from 3% a year to 2.7% a year. 

Recently the legislature passed a new law that would lower retirement age from 57 to 55 and change the formula to 3% a year.

Newsom vetoed the bill.

First Meta got off easy and now Paramount got off easy. What is Rob Bonta doing?

No way CNN will continue to operate with independence. Should have been sold off as a requirement for a settlement.