Voters in San Francisco, California, leaned away from a ballot measure to hike taxes on some big companies.
The latest data on the San Francisco Department of Elections website showed Measure D was sinking, Fox Business reported Tuesday. The results showed 53.64 percent had voted no while 46.36 percent voted yes.
The measure’s text read:
Shall the City permanently change the top executive pay tax it collects from some large businesses when their highest-paid managerial employee earns more than 100 times the median compensation paid to their San Francisco employees, by changing the tax to be calculated using the compensation of all employees, not just those based in San Francisco, and shall the City increase the top executive pay tax rates for these businesses to either between 0.183% and 1.121% of their gross receipts or between 0.75% and 4.47% of their payroll expense in San Francisco, for an estimated annual revenue increase of $250-$300 million? Supporters: Brittany Hewett; Adam Wood; Justin Dolezal; Christian Vierra; Feng Mei Chen Opponents: Supervisor Matt Dorsey.
Per the Fox article, “Measure D would have expanded San Francisco’s existing CEO pay ratio tax, which applies to certain large businesses when a top executive earns more than 100 times the median compensation of workers.”
“The proposal would have changed the formula by comparing executive pay with a company’s entire workforce rather than only its San Francisco employees, while also increasing tax rates on affected businesses,” it added.
The news came after wealthy taxpayers were reportedly starting to leave Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) California in 2023, reversing the trend of higher-earners moving to the Golden State.
Breitbart News reported at the time:
California largely avoided a flight of wealthy taxpayers after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) raised taxes nearly a decade-and-a-half ago. Proposition 30, which made his “temporary” tax cuts permanent, also passed without causing an exodus — though middle-class families continued to leave.
But poor governance, including a rise in crime, has convinced many wealthy taxpayers that they are no longer receiving value for money — and that they may be targets.
In late 2025, a proposed wealth tax targeting billionaires in California drew heavy criticism from tech founders who threatened to leave if it became law, per Breitbart News.
Meanwhile, the state’s stock market billionaires denounced a proposed tax to fund healthcare for millions of illegal migrants who had settled there.
“The tech sector ‘is getting what they had coming ….[after] pushing for open borders and unbridled employment visas,’ said Kevin Lynn, founder of U.S. Tech Workers, which opposes the H-1B program,” Breitbart News reported in January.
Per the recent Fox article, opponents of Measure D included Mayor Daniel Lurie. Those against argued it might “drive employers away from San Francisco and make the city less competitive as officials work to revive downtown and attract new investment,” the outlet said.
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