If the state’s latest estimated budget surplus of $45 billion is any indication, California’s economy has stood up to the challenge of the pandemic.

The Department of Finance recently reported that the Golden State collected about $16 billion more in revenue than expected during the first seven months of fiscal 2021. As the California Chamber of Commerce correctly states: “These numbers tell a clear story — California’s employers and entrepreneurs have succeeded economically in the face of the last year’s challenges, leading to another tax windfall for the state.”

But it’s never enough.

The latest tax grab comes in the form of AB 2289, introduced by Assemblymember Alex Lee, Democrat out of San Jose. This Wealth Tax would impose a new 1.5% annual tax on a California resident’s worldwide net worth in excess of $1 billion, or in excess of $500 million in the case of a married taxpayer filing separately, reported the CalChamber.

After 2025, the tax would change to 1% of worldwide net worth of more than $50 million, or $25 million for a married taxpayer filing separately. There would be an additional tax at a rate of 0.5% of a resident’s worldwide net worth in excess of $1 billion, or $500 million for a married taxpayer filing separately.

According to recent reports, an analysis by UC Davis and Berkeley professors estimate the measure would produce about $22 billion in state revenue annually. But that really depends on how widely high net-worth individuals leave the state to avoid it.

I concur with the CalChamber on this one: “Given the state’s current ability to spend on nearly any desired cause, the Wealth Tax is unnecessary and legislators should focus on ways to spend the cash California currently has on hand.”