In California, there’s nothing more permanent than a “temporary” law.

That’s why so much attention is now being rallied against the so-called “wealth tax,” championed by figures like Ro Khanna. While the prop, which amounts to an asset-seizure tax, is devastating enough on its own (and has already caused hundreds of billions of dollars to flee California simply because it might pass) its supporters insist that it’s a one-time event. It doesn’t take a genius to see that history suggests otherwise.

Take for example California’s Prop 30. Passed in 2012, the proposition, titled “Temporary Taxes to Fund Education,” was championed by California’s Federation of Teachers and created new high-income tax brackets for a seven-year window. The tax was sold as a short-term emergency measure to stabilize funding for schools in the wake of the Great Recession. For high earners, three new tax brackets were created above the previously highest rate, 9.3%. Income taxes increased by 1% ($340,000 – $408,000), 2% ($408,800 – $680,000), or 3% ($680,000+). The specific tax brackets are adjusted for inflation every year. Prop 30 was supposed to end in 2018, but before it expired, 2016’s Prop 55 passed — extending the tax increases through 2030. Now, a new initiative titled “The California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act of 2026” will potentially make these permanent.

Legally, all revenue raised by Prop 30 and Prop 55 must fund K-12 schools and community colleges — but through a different Prop (98), schools are already guaranteed a minimum share of state revenue every year regardless of economic conditions. Effectively, Prop 30 “backfills” the budget, replacing dollars from the General Fund that would have gone to schools, freeing those dollars to be spent elsewhere and allowing the state to expand total spending rather than just fund education.

You can already sign a petition outside your local grocery store to put Initiative 25-0016 on the ballot and make these tax hikes permanent. Before you do though, a few things to keep in mind.