(KRON) — The mayor of the Bay Area’s largest cities is hitting out at a proposed billionaire tax that’s already got some of the wealthiest people in California posturing about leaving the state. Known as the California Billionaire Tax Act, the proposed legislation would levy a one-time 5% tax on Californians worth more than $1 billion to cover healthcare costs.
Google co-founder Larry Page and pro-Trump venture capitalist Peter Thiel are among those making noise about leaving the Golden State if the tax becomes law. Now the tech billionaires appear to have another elected official on their side in the form of San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
“My mom always told my sisters and me, ‘don’t cut off your nose to spite your face,’” Mahan tweeted Monday. “And as I think about the ramifications of the so-called Billionaire Tax, I can’t help but hear her voice.”
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“We need a rising economic tide to lift all boats, not a political plan that will sink California’s innovation economy,” he continued. “I realize no one has sympathy for billionaires. But the truth is — they don’t have to, and many won’t, stay here if this tax is implemented.”…