Senate Tax Increase Proposal Boggles the Mind, Brings Swift Rebuke

State Senate Democrats this week unveiled their proposed spending plan, including a tax
increase on California’s largest employers and investors. The misguided proposal brought a firm
rebuke from Gov. Newsom, whose spokesperson Anthony York said: “It would be irresponsible
to jeopardize the progress we’ve all made together over the last decade to protect the most
vulnerable while putting our state on sound fiscal footing.”

Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman had a similarly strong reaction:

“This isn’t just a proposed tax increase, it’s a roadmap showing our largest employers how to
leave California. For more than two years we’ve watched as California’s record high taxes and
excessive regulations have chased employers and investors out of the state and now the
answer to that is raising taxes? It boggles the mind. And it’s not just the companies themselves,
it’s the direct jobs they support and the economic activities and many other jobs they provide
through their supplier networks and support services – the entire ecosystem of small, local
businesses that flourish around them. The pandemic showed us what happens to small local
businesses when the large employers leave and this proposed tax increase will just accelerate
economic decline.”

The Council remains deeply engaged in the state budgeting process, advocating for fiscal
restraint while prioritizing critical investments necessary to support economic growth and fuel
new jobs and investment.