The Commit to Equity coalition is gathering advocates for economic, racial, and social justice at dawn on Friday for a ringing of bells and a press conference to urge Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers to WAKE UP to widening inequality and suffering around the state.
We are demanding state leaders raise taxes on billionaires to invest in recovery from COVID-19, recession, and the legacy of structural racism.
WAKE UP is occurring simultaneously outside Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s District Office, in Lakewood, and at the State Capitol, in Sacramento at 6am PST on Friday August 7th. It caps off a week of action across California about solutions for a fair and just recovery coordinated by a United Front.
Please tweet all day today (Friday) pushing the CA leaders and to support a tax on the ultra wealthy.
Please use the following posts and graphics to share on social media.
Social messaging on #TaxCABillionaires & #AB1253
We need revenue. California is home to more billionaires than any state. Corporations are paying far less in taxes than they did a generation ago. Are you listening @GavinNewsom @rendon63rd, @SenToniAtkins? Share on X
During this crisis, the billionaires are getting richer while essential workers earn less than a living wage. California leaders must #TaxCABillionaires and pass laws that ensure all of us - not just a wealthy few - are safe and thriving. @gavinnewsom #ChooseUs Share on X
By investing now for the future, we can rebuild equitably and ensure we are protected in the face of future crises. #TaxCABillionaires #ChooseUs Share on X
While billionaires see record profits and the wealthiest corporations avoid paying their share, COVID-19 and systemic racism are stealing opportunity and life from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income people of color. #TaxCABillionaires #ChooseUs Share on X
We’re out here to give our leaders a wake up call! Watch live: https://www.facebook.com/CommitToEquity/ We can’t wait until there’s mass evictions or until our schools can no longer afford to teach our children before we decide to put equity first. Our leaders must… Share on X
Today we’re giving @Rendon63rd a wake up call. Watch live: https://www.facebook.com/CommitToEquity/ He must impose capital gains and wealth taxes on the extremely wealthy. Now is the time for California leaders to stop with the lip service and really #ChooseUs… Share on X
Now is not the time for them to take baby steps. @GavinNewsom, @Rendon63rd, @SenToniAtkins, are you listening? Will you #TaxCABillionaires? We’re live from Sacramento and Los Angeles this morning. Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/CommitToEquity/ Share on X
Since the onset of COVID-19, the 154 billionaires who live in California got over $175 billion richer, and 11 more Californians became billionaires. It’s time for the extremely wealthy to pay their fair share, and #ChooseUs… Share on X
A tax on the extremely wealthy is an action that’s much needed for California to move forward with any semblance of balance. The state should not make cuts that would affect middle and low income communities when it has so much wealth to fairly draw from.… Share on X
California millionaires and billionaires rely heavily on public goods -- infrastructure, education, and first responders -- for their business to make a profit. It’s high time for wealthy individuals to pay their share in taxes. #TaxCABillionaires #ChooseUs Share on X
Inaction by #CALeg will only serve to protect the wealthy whose income continues to grow while many are suffering. Inaction now will leave us with less tools to respond with before 2021. Inaction now means that real people will suffer. Leaders must #TaxCABillionaires… Share on X
Budget cuts & borrowing from existing revenue will simply lead to those with the least bearing the brunt of the current crises. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the Great Recession when budget cuts and borrowing led to years of tepid economic growth. #TaxCABillionaires… Share on X
Families rely on the Governor and #CALeg to provide leadership in a crisis. We cannot afford to wait, we cannot hope things get better, we cannot ask working families to assume all the risk while asking nothing of those with the highest incomes and #ChooseUs.… Share on X
The public wants to see our state lead as we have done so many times in the past. It is up to all of us to show that once again we have the courage of our convictions to do what is needed, when it is needed. Now is the time. Are you listening @GavinNewsom?… Share on X
We are at a crossroads. We can continue business as usual which has led us to this point & hope that it magically fixes itself. Or we can begin to address the serious problems confronting our society. It’s time to wake up, @rendon63rd. #TaxCABillionaires Share on X
Now is the time to make what @GavinNewsom has described as a “foundational” change to address the COVID crisis, maintain and expand state funding for critical services by asking the wealthy to pay more taxes and to address systematic racism and inequality.… Share on X
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ADDITIONAL SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
- Workers keep this economy moving! 7 million of us have lost jobs since March as 154 CA billionaires got $174 billion richer. #TaxCABillionaires to fund a just recovery! #CommittoEquity
- CA needs a budget for justice! No more cuts to our schools, child care, and health care! #TaxCABillionaires! Their fortunes have never been bigger and our struggles have never been greater! #CommitToEquity
- We need a #CABudget for justice, equity and inclusion! State leaders must #TaxCABillionaires and invest in people suffering from racism, inequity, and vulnerability! #CommittoEquity
- @GavinNewsom @Rendon63rd @toniatkins: #TaxCABillionaires to stop cuts, end California’s budget crisis, and invest in communities of color & vulnerable groups! #CommitToEquity
- @GavinNewsom @Rendon63rd @toniatkins: PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING! We have a health crisis, a budget crisis & an economic crisis. #TaxCABillionaires for a just recovery! #CommittoEquity
- @GavinNewsom @Rendon63rd @toniatkins: FIGHT FOR US! #TaxCABillionaires, stop cuts to programs we depend on, and invest in our communities!
- @GavinNewsom @Rendon63rd @toniatkins: Your budget is INCOMPLETE! Today’s economy is worse than the “Great Recession” where CA raised taxes. We need a plan to invest in a just recovery! #TaxCABillionaires #CommittoEquity
- @GavinNewsom @Rendon63rd @toniatkins: We are suffering from an economic & health crisis. Budget cuts are another sacrifice for working families with nothing more to give! #TaxCABillionaires #CommittoEquity
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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- CNBC — June 16: Topping that list, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk increased his wealth 55% to more than $38 billion during that time, thanks in part to the recovery of Tesla’s stock price. On March 18, Tesla closed at $361.22 and on June 4 it closed at $864.38. Musk owns roughly 38.7 million shares of Tesla, and in May, Musk earned his first performance-based payout from Tesla, worth more than $700 million, according to CNBC. On Monday, Tesla stock closed at $990.90 and Musk’s current net worth as of Tuesday is up further, at $42 billion, according to Forbes.
- FORBES: Nearly A Quarter Of America’s Richest People Live In California. MAP: https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/
*And California has the highest poverty rate in the U.S.