Taxing Corporations With Huge CEO-Worker Pay Gaps is Good For Workers, and Businesses
In an era of steep federal budget cuts, cities need extra revenue. And in an era of skyrocketing inequality and inflation, many workers need a raise. A proposal to increase Portland’s tax surcharge on companies with large pay gaps could help accomplish both — and encourage sounder business practices, too.
In 2016, Portland adopted the world’s first tax penalty on corporations that pay their CEO more than 100 times their median worker pay. Members of the U.S. Congress have introduced federal legislation modeled on the Portland precedent, and in 2020, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved a similar tax.
Portland’s surcharge has generated about $5 million a year for social programs. A “fair share tax” proposal by Councilors Mitch Green and Angelita Morillo would increase net revenue to an estimated $72 million by combining an increase in the surcharge rates with a small business tax cut.
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Read the full article in Portland Mercury.
