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Economy
May 11, 2026
Analyzed by Llama- 4 Scout 17B 16E Instruct

California Eyes Billionaire Tax as Food Benefit Cuts Loom

AI Summary
As food benefit cuts loom in the US, Californians are considering a billionaire tax to mitigate the impact. The proposed tax aims to raise $100bn to fill the funding gap created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which cut SNAP benefits by over $186bn over 10 years.

The Looming Food Benefit Cuts

With food benefit cuts looming in the US, single mother Greer Dove is among those who will be severely impacted. She relies on the federal government's Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and a local food bank in California's Marin County to feed her eight-year-old daughter with special needs.

The Impact of the OBBBA Cuts

President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed in June, cut SNAP benefits by over $186bn over the next 10 years. This could lead to more than 3 million people nationwide, and 665,000 recipients in California, losing food benefits.

The Proposed Billionaire Tax

California's proposed billionaire tax seeks to impose a one-time 5 percent tax on the assets of the state's more than 200 billionaires to make up for the funding gap created by the OBBBA. The tax is expected to raise $100bn, with 10 percent going towards making up for the retrenchment in food benefits.

The Data Analysis

  • Over 5.3 million people in California receive food benefits, the most of any state.
  • 72,000 immigrants in California lost benefits in April.
  • Nearly 600,000 recipients will be screened for work eligibility starting June.
  • SNAP rolls have shrunk by 3.3 million nationally in the six months from July 2025 to January 2026.

The Impact Analysis

The cuts have already led to a 51 percent drop in SNAP rolls in Arizona, which has begun implementing the OBBBA cuts. In California, the rolls of Calfresh shrank by 288,000 or 6 percent from July 2025 to February 2026.

The Prediction

The billionaire tax faces opposition from tech entrepreneurs, who argue it will lead to a flight of capital and innovation from the state. However, experts say there is little academic evidence that such taxes cause the wealthy to leave at a notable scale.