Tom Steyer is running for governor on a promise to close a "Trump Tax Loophole" worth $20 billion—but the loophole is actually a 1978 Democratic law, and California's own fiscal analysts put the real revenue figure at less than half that. Meanwhile, a union-backed "CEO Tax" heading for the June 2026 ballot would raise gross receipts taxes by up to 800%, threatening the AI startup boom that has made San Francisco the only major tech hub in America with *growing* company formation. Both fights are shaping up as a direct collision between progressive tax politics and the fragile downtown recovery SF desperately needs.
Tom Steyer renamed a 1978 Democratic law after Donald Trump and called it a plan. The loophole is real. The history, and the math, are not.
San Francisco is the only tech hub in America with growing startup formation—and city hall is doing everything it can to drive companies out.
SF Chronicle says murals can revive empty buildings. Meanwhile, the city's about to make it impossible to do business downtown.
It doesn't tax CEOs. It's an 800% gross receipts hike that hits Safeway shoppers while executives pay nothing.
Unions want an 800% tax increase disguised as class warfare—and they're breaking a deal they made just last year.
Labor coalition wants an 800% tax hike while 1/3 of downtown sits empty. They're breaking the deal they made last year.