{"id":198030,"date":"2026-02-28T12:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T12:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/198030\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T12:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T12:02:20","slug":"san-francisco-dem-group-unleashes-10m-to-kill-ceo-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/198030\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Dem group unleashes $10M to kill CEO tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

A powerful San Francisco group is unleashing $10 million this year to kill taxes that they say will destroy the city\u2019s fragile economic recovery<\/a> \u2014 and potentially increase the price of food and goods for already cash-strapped residents.<\/p>\n

Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, a moderate advocacy group, plans to beat back a wave of lefty initiatives and candidates this year that they say will derail years of progress in liberal San Francisco, according to its director Jay Cheng.<\/p>\n

One of the group\u2019s main targets is a so-called \u201cCEO tax\u201d \u2014 a June ballot measure backed by progressives and labor unions that doesn\u2019t tax individual executives but rather companies with a large gap between what the top executive and the median worker earns.<\/p>\n

Jay Cheng heads the powerful moderate group Neighbors for a Better San Francisco. @jay_jay_cheng \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to destroy our economy overnight, there\u2019s no question,\u201d said Cheng. <\/p>\n

Shops like Nordstrom, the Gap, Starbucks, Target, Chipotle, Ross Dress for Less, CVS and Grocery Outlet would face huge tax increases \u2014 passing costs onto consumers or even ditching the city entirely, according to Cheng. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the CEO tax passes in June, the message to business is you can\u2019t reliably predict what your tax bill will be year over year,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Critics say the CEO tax would destroy San Francisco\u2019s fragile economic recovery. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cYour tax bill will suddenly be 800% higher \u2014 no business can plan around that.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Francisco has an existing \u201coverpaid CEO\u201d tax that adds a surcharge to companies\u2019 bills based on the ratio of executive and worker pay.<\/p>\n

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The new CEO tax, pushed by the SEIU and other labor groups and leftist elected officials such as Supervisors Connie Chan and Jackie Fielder, would dramatically increase that surcharge for firms whose highest-paid exec earns more than 100 times the median worker. Organizers say it could raise $200 million annually to preserve \u201cessential city services.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Fielder, a Democratic Socialist, is also pushing a tax on financial institutions to fund a San Francisco \u201cpublic bank.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n

Connie Chan, also a candidate for Congress, champions the CEO tax. AP<\/p>\n

Democratic Socialist Jackie FIelder supports the CEO tax and another tax on banks. AP<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of a rash of populist tax proposals statewide that take aim at top earners. A similar effort to tax companies with \u201coverpaid CEOs\u201d is underway in Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco group plans to campaign against the statewide billionaire tax proposal that critics say could drive $1 trillion in wealth out <\/a>of California.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can get the wealth tax to 50\/50 in San Francisco, it\u2019s dead statewide,\u201d Cheng said.<\/p>\n

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Steven Buss Bacio, co-founder of the moderate political group GrowSF<\/a>, echoed concerns about the CEO tax, though his group is studying the issue before making a formal statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not tax CEOs, it taxes consumers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is effectively a tariff on goods in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neighbors for a Better San Francisco is also backing San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan\u2019s gubernatorial campaign and moderate candidates for Board of Supervisors and school board, Cheng said.<\/p>\n

Billionare hedge funder Bill Oberndorf has been a key backer of Neighbors for a Better San Francisco. Federationforchildren.org<\/p>\n

The influential group played a key role in San Francisco\u2019s recalls of far-left District Attorney Chesa Boudin and three members of the progressive school board in 2022. <\/p>\n

Its primary backer has been the billionaire Republican donor Bill Oberndorf, though it increasingly receives funding from smaller individual donors, Cheng said. <\/p>\n

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