Californians reject the idea of a one-time tax on billionaires.
About 53 percent of voters opposed the measure, while 47 percent supported it, the AP reported.
Under what is known as Proposition 40, about 250 billionaires living in the state of California were required to pay 5% of their combined net worth. The funds received were planned to be used to support the health care system, which suffered from budget cuts under the Donald Trump administration.
The supporters of the initiative are expected to collect about 100 billion dollars; Experts called a more modest figure - about 30 billion dollars.
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, previously opposed a special tax - he believes that rich people will simply leave, and tax revenues, on the contrary, will decrease.
Proposition 40 was one of many initiatives on the ballot last week when the midterm elections for the US Congress took place. Supporters of the wealth tax saw the measure as part of a global effort to combat growing income inequality.