A measure to “require audits of programs funded by new state special taxes” has qualified for the California ballot, the California Secretary of State announced late Tuesday, with more than 962,000 signatures and will be certified June 25th unless withdrawn. It is the first to qualify of multiple ballot proposals backed by Building A Better California, a group where Google co-founder Sergey Brin and other Bay Area tycoons have poured tens of millions of dollars into to fight the billionaire tax. The controversial billionaire tax, championed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), would levy a one-time 5% tax on the state’s ultra-rich whose assets exceed $1 billion. The newly qualified auditing proposal includes a provision that would essentially invalidate or bring legal scrutiny to the proposed billionaire tax. Both the tax proposal and competing initiatives could still be withdrawn before June 25 if Governor Gavin Newsom succeeds in negotiating a compromise. Supporters of the billionaire tax recently offered Newsom the option of a 2% tax enacted through legislation instead, but the governor swiftly declined.