However, it is very likely the case that the SEIU is simply using this as a baiting mechanism to get people to stand up and denounce it, and then they will be in a position to attack those people and destroy them, and use this effectively as a political fodder for this next election cycle.
As of November 30, 2025, the SEIU-backed “2026 Billionaire Tax Act” has only recently been filed with the California Attorney General and is still in the early procedural phase. It is undergoing the 30‑day public review, after which proponents will have up to 180 days to gather roughly 875,000 signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot.(insidesalt.com)
Coverage of the initiative consistently frames SEIU‑UHW’s stated purpose as replacing Medicaid/Medi‑Cal funding lost due to recent federal cuts and averting a health‑care crisis, with revenue directed 90% to Medi‑Cal and 10% to K‑12 education.(apnews.com) These reports describe messaging around protecting health care and education, not an explicit strategy of baiting opponents so they can be politically “destroyed.”
Because the next election cycle in which this measure would be on the ballot is November 2026, that campaign has not yet begun in earnest. There is not yet evidence of systematic SEIU or allied campaigns using the measure to target and politically damage high‑profile figures who publicly denounce it (for example, no documented attack‑ad campaigns or coordinated hit pieces tied to specific denouncers as of now).
Given the short time between the podcast (October 24, 2025) and today, and the fact that the 2026 election cycle is still ahead, it is too early to determine whether Friedberg’s prediction about the initiative’s primary use as political bait will ultimately prove correct.