When a group of wealthy Californians launched a ballot measure campaign in late 2021 aimed at improving pandemic preparedness after the deadly COVID-19 outbreak, they netted more than $21 million in less than six months.
The money backing the initiative, which would raise taxes on the wealthy, came from two groups with ties to Silicon Valley: one underwritten by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, the other by cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried.
Months later, Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency empire collapsed. As quickly as the campaign money had appeared, it dried up.
The ballot measure now has $78.56 on hand, and has not attracted a new donor or received a cash contribution in 15 months, according to state filings. While several public health and medical organizations support the measure, none have donated to the campaign.
“We’re in a quiet period,” said Max Henderson, a former Google executive who is one of the proponents of the Californians Against Pandemics initiative.
The measure gathered more than 1 million signatures to qualify for the November 2024 ballot.
Henderson said he still plans to keep the issue on next year’s ballot, despite the lack of funds. He said he doesn’t know yet how much more money the campaign will need to raise, but is “confident that we can raise it.”
But Bankman-Fried’s support has exposed the Californians Against Pandemics measure to some risks, experts say, including that potential donors will shy away from an initiative associated with a man convicted of fraud on Nov. 2.
“If I’m an opponent, I’m going to go right at him,” said Matt Lesenyie, an assistant professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach whose dissertation examined ballot measures. “I would ask: Why does Sam Bankman-Fried get to write the law? Why does a convicted criminal get to decide the future of California policy?”
Henderson said the measure was inspired by his work on the board of CovidActNow, a nonprofit that built a real-time tracker of COVID-19 risk levels across the U.S.
If approved by voters, the measure will raise taxes on personal income above $5 million by 0.75% for a decade. Legislative analysts said the tax increase could generate $500 million to $1.5 billion per year, the largest infusion of money into the state’s public health system since its creation.
Half the revenue would go to a new state agency aimed at detecting diseases and preventing future pandemics. The so-called California Institute for Pandemic Prevention would distribute grants to researchers studying the transmission of pathogens, including through metagenomic sequencing.
Public health programs would receive 25% for pandemic preparedness, and K-12 schools would receive 25% for infrastructure upgrades to limit disease transmission.
Californians “love the idea of soaking the rich” at the ballot box, Lesenyie said. But such measures aren’t guaranteed to pass. In 2022, voters rejected Proposition 30, backed by the ride-hailing company Lyft, which would have raised taxes on income above $2 million to build out the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure.
The other major backer of the pandemic ballot measure was the Open Philanthropy Project, a foundation funded by Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook, and his wife, Cari Tuna.
Open Philanthropy’s political action arm contributed $10 million in late 2021 and early 2022, filings show. Mike Levine, a spokesman for Open Philanthropy, said: “We previously supported the measure but aren’t for 2023-2024.”
The ballot measure committee reported $38,519.75 in noncash contributions from Open Philanthropy this year, described in campaign finance reports as “legal treasury fees and expenses.” Henderson and Levine said the filings were a clerical error and are being corrected.
Open Philanthropy is one of the best-known proponents of “effective altruism.” The movement, popular in Silicon Valley, encourages donors to focus their charitable giving on reducing long-term risks to humanity, including pandemics.
Bankman-Fried, who became the face of the movement, poured tens of millions of dollars into the cause, including the California pandemic ballot measure and contributions to Congressional candidates, including California Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) and Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), who said they would prioritize pandemic preparedness.
His hedge fund, Alameda Research, sent $12 million in late 2021 and early 2022 to a nonprofit called Guarding Against Pandemics, which was run by Bankman-Fried’s younger brother.
The nonprofit then funneled the same amount into the pandemic ballot measure campaign, according to state filings.
After the cryptocurrency market plunged, bringing down multiple trading platforms, the contributions from the Bankman-Fried brothers stopped, filings show.
FTX collapsed in November 2022. Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud and arrested the following month.
Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried siphoned at least $10 billion from FTX customers and investors. Former employees testified during the trial that Bankman-Fried directed them to defraud customers by using cash from FTX customer accounts to repay debts, fund cryptocurrency investments and make political contributions at Alameda Research.
Whether creditors in FTX’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy will try to claw back contributions made through Alameda remains unclear.
