Prop 40’s Progressive Disunity
Progressives overwhelmingly support hiking taxes on billionaires. But the California Teachers Association and United Domestic Workers oppose Prop 40, California’s Billionaire Tax. Even SEIU California is neutral. Some of its leaders were personally threatened by Dave Regan, who heads SEIU-UHW and the Prop 40 campaign .
Most progressive groups back Prop 40. But the progressive unity likely needed for the measure to win is lacking.
Regan Failed to Unite Progressives
Few progressives want to oppose raising taxes on billionaires. If Dave Regan of SEIU-UHW cared about progressive unity, he would have come up with a billionaire tax measure that all would support.
But that’s not who Dave Regan is. Recent revelations about Regan “threatening and harassing” women and SEIU officials over their position on Prop 40 came as no surprise to those familiar with him. The many troubling allegations against Regan were confirmed by SEIU California’s own investigative report.
Regan was installed as head of SEIU-UHW in January 2009 as part of the international SEIU’s takeover of a steadily growing healthcare workers union headed by Sal Rosselli. Regan was an SEIU Executive Vice-President based in Ohio. He came in at a salary of nearly $300,000 a year, more than twice what Rosselli was paid.
I had just published a book from UC Press connecting the rise of SEIU to the impact of former UFW volunteers. So in hopes of getting me to support the UHW takeover, SEIU’s communications team set me up with a private interview with Dave Regan.
It did not go well. Regan aggressively lectured me on why Rosselli’s team was bad. He claimed he would be a far better leader. He was so rude that the media contact apologized to me after the interview. She said she had never seen Regan behave that way.
But that is how Dave Regan typically behaves. He is an arrogant bully. In 2012 I wrote about him holding a contest for SEIU members to get a one-on-one lunch with him (See “SEIU-UHW’s Regan Reaches Another New Low,” August 8, 2012). As the union’s ad read, “SEIU-UHW members who raise the most money for the political fund each month will win a one-hour lunch with SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan. Lunch will be scheduled at the end of the year as a group with all the winners in each region.”
Union members had to win a contest to get access to their highly-paid president.
Regan has blown tens of millions of member dollars on three losing ballot measures SEIU-UHW) sponsored targeting kidney dialysis clinics—Proposition 8 in 2018, Proposition 23 in 2020, and Proposition 29 in 2022. Regan doesn’t know how to build winning political coalitions.
Why Key Unions Oppose Prop 40
The California Federation of Labor backs Prop 40. So does the California Democratic Party and most unions and progressive groups. But to win a measure taxing people with unlimited funds progressive unity is essential.
The California Teachers Association explained its opposition:
“After thorough review and democratic debate about the Billionaire Tax Act, our State Council of Delegates — 800 educator representatives from throughout the state — determined that this policy will not provide the sustainable and long-lasting funding that our schools and communities deserve.”
The union prefers extending the taxes on the wealthy that were imposed under Proposition 30 and later Proposition 55. Both generate millions for schools and community colleges. They expire in 2030 unless voters extend them in 2028 or 2030. CTA understandably fears that passage of a billionaire’s tax going solely to hospitals will make it harder to extend these vital education taxes.
United Domestic Workers President Astrid Zuniga said her union supports the goal of taxing billionaires more but opposes Proposition 40 because it would not fund in-home or child care. It “does not create the sustainable funding stream that is required to fully fund vital care programs…we’re urging our members to vote no on Prop. 40, because we know it’s possible to deliver a better funding plan for our communities.”
Why didn’t Regan have his tax cover the very low-income workers proving in-home health services and child-care?
What Prop 40’s Defeat would Mean
The media will frame Prop 40’s likely defeat as sending a message that taxing the rich is not as popular as thought. But the real message is that progressive unity is essential for winning statewide ballot measures in California
The best news from a Prop 40 defeat is that another costly initiative loss coupled with his abuse of SEIU officials could a finally drive Dave Regan out of union leadership. Health-care workers in SEIU-UHW deserve better.
