Hi, Brian Lairer here.

Up next, Brian Lairor Weekend,

three of our favorite segments from the week,

packaged together for you to listen to on the weekend.

So enjoy, and I'll see you back on the radio Monday at 10 a.m.

on WNYC on WNYC.

Good morning again, everyone.

Let's talk about this California wealth tax proposal.

California is home to more billionaires than almost anywhere on earth.

Now it's also the site of a new political fight over what exactly the ultra-altra-welthy

owe the state that arguably helped make them rich. There's this proposal

backed by labor groups primarily that would impose a one-time five percent tax on Californians worth

more than a billion dollars with the goal of funding health care and other public needs. It is a wealth tax.

It's a one-shot, not an ongoing income tax.

Now, for proponents of the tax, it's a rare chance to tap extreme wealth and shore up finances

for needed services without really dinging the finances of the people who get taxed. Opponents, including

some of the state's richest residents, not surprisingly, say it's punitive, unconstitutional, and could

backfire by pushing billionaires to flee California altogether with their tax dollars. And by the way,

Governor Gavin Newsom is also against it.

Suzanne Jimenez is Chief of Staff at SEIU United Healthcare Workers West,

an architect of the proposal.

She joins us now to explain how it would work and make the argument that it would work

...