By PDX People

PORTLAND, Ore. – There’s no denying that most CEO’s make 10 to 20 times more than the average worker; the gap between CEO pay and what workers earn has led many people to criticize CEO pay and bonuses over the years.

Portland Oregon is finally doing something about the problem of excessive CEO pay and a proposal was recently introduced in the city which would hit companies who pay their CEO’s 100 to 200 times more than their workers with a tax increase of 10 to 20 percent.

Will The Proposal Be Approved?

Although the proposal sounds good in theory the big question is will it be approved?

In an era where there are no lines between corporate influence and politics, it’s likely that the proposal faces an uphill battle to being approved since a similar proposal in California was rejected in 2014 and Portland’s City commissioner Steve Novick is unsure that his colleagues in local government will support it.

How Would This Proposal Affect The United States?

Excitement is building in Portland Oregon for this proposal but how would it affect corporations across the United States?

More than 500 companies would be affected, the city estimates ― including General Electric, which pays CEO Jeff Immelt $17.4 million a year, or 202 times what the average GE worker makes; 21st Century Fox, which pays CEO Rupert Murdoch 311 times its average worker; and Walmart, which pays CEO Douglas McMillon $5.1 million, or 209 times the average Walmart worker’s pay.

It will be even easier to implement the law once a Securities and Exchange Commission rule ― established by the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill ― goes into effect next year. The rule requires public companies to report their CEO-to-worker pay ratio.

74 Percent of Americans Believe Most CEO’s Are Overpaid

Following the economic crash of 2008, 74 percent of Americans believe that most CEO’s are overpaid but the issue never seems to get resolved since corporations have such an influence in politics, especially in the 2016 Presidential Election.

If this proposal is approved in Portland Oregon it could set a standard that other cities on the West Coast will want to follow for resolving the problem of insane CEO pay and bridging the gap of income inequality between workers and CEO’s in the United States.