Daily Business Report: April 13 2026
Billionaire tax is a no-brainer for progressive California Democrats, right? Not so fast.
by Maya C. Miller | CalMatters
A union-backed proposal to tax California’s billionaires to fund health care has put some progressive lawmakers — and their labor allies — in a quandary.
Taxing the rich to backfill Trump-induced federal funding cuts might sound like a no-brainer policy for the party’s left flank, which counts wealth inequality among its top issues.
But despite a strong show of support from prominent national figures, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and liberal economist Robert Reich, the “2026 California Billionaire Tax Act” has become a hot potato for labor leaders.
California voters will face dueling ballot propositions this fall. Confusion is likely
by Dan Walters | CalMatters
When California voters approved Proposition 13 in 1978, they forced a massive change in how government services are financed that continues to reverberate nearly a half-century later.
Prop. 13’s limits on property taxes that had financed public schools and other units of local government for many decades forced fundamental changes in fiscal responsibilities — the state assuming education costs being just one example.
California media extensively covered Prop. 13’s financial impacts at the time, and countless academic and journalistic analyses have done so since. But one aspect of its passage has been largely ignored.
KB Home Joins Growing California Exodus, Relocates Headquarters from Los Angeles to Tempe, Arizona
By Megan Barth | California Globe
KB Home, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders and a Fortune 1000 company ranked No. 526, announced this week it is moving its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to Tempe, Arizona, beginning in spring 2027. The relocation marks the latest high-profile departure of a California-based business seeking lower costs, fewer regulatory hurdles, and high-growth markets.
In an official statement, KB Home said the move will consolidate executive leadership and key corporate functions at a new headquarters in Tempe’s Hayden Ferry Lakeside campus along Tempe Town Lake. The company cited a desire for a more centralized, lower-cost operating environment with a business-friendly climate that will “bring our teams together in a more collaborative environment.” CEO Robert McGibney stated, “Phoenix is the right place to do it. It positions KB Home to operate more effectively and supports the next phase of our growth.” The new location also offers convenient access to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and builds on existing corporate functions already based in the Phoenix area, according to the announcement.
While KB Home will maintain a significant operational footprint in California — including six divisions and more than 100 active communities, particularly in San Bernardino County — the headquarters shift underscores a dramatic reversal in the company’s business focus. As housing analyst Lance Lambert noted, back in 2012 KB Home built nearly four times as many homes in Los Angeles County as in Maricopa County, Arizona. Today, it closes nearly eight times more homes in the Phoenix metro area than in L.A. County.
