The 'poison pill' ballot measure that could kill the California billionaire tax

A competing California ballot measure that would ban state taxes on retirement accounts is emerging as the strongest challenge to the proposed billionaire tax, according to tax experts. The measure, described as a "poison pill," could effectively kill the billionaire tax effort by foreclosing a key revenue mechanism. The article does not specify the tax rate, revenue estimates, or the names of the measure's sponsors or the officials behind the billionaire tax proposal. It matters because California's initiative process allows competing measures to reshape or negate each other, and the retirement-account ban could reach the ballot alongside the billionaire tax. What to watch next is whether the poison-pill measure qualifies for the ballot and how the two campaigns and state regulators respond.