Poor Nevada. The Silver State was trying to simplify its voting laws by increasing the maximum number of people allowed in a precinct from 3,000 to 5,000. The legislation’s authors wanted to make sure large apartment complexes could be treated as a single precinct instead of confusingly split into two.
But according to San Francisco’s Elections Department, increasing the size of precincts decreases the number of precincts, which also reduces the number of polling places, which San Francisco considers to be voter suppression. Nevada, according to San Francisco, was racist. And so it was added to the list of states that the city can’t do business with.
The ban applies not just to the state government, but to all businesses in the state. That means that if you own or work for a business headquartered in one of the states on San Francisco’s banned list, then San Francisco won’t do business with you.
How many states are on San Francisco’s naughty list? Well, the effort started in 2016 when San Francisco passed its first ban on states with “repressive anti-LGBT laws.” Then, in 2019, states with what San Francisco viewed as “restrictive abortion laws” were added to the list. Then, in 2021, states with “restrictive” voting laws were added. In all, 28 states are now banned from doing business with San Francisco — more than half the country.
Texas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania: These are all big states with thousands of businesses that sell things San Franciscans need.
“It limits our ability to procure products and receive services we need to run,” City Administrator Carmen Chu told Mission Local. “It limits competition for our work.” Sometimes a majority of the bidders for a city contract are all disqualified because they are on San Francisco’s banned list.
No other city has joined San Francisco in its boycott frenzy, but the state of California has its own naughty list. The state ban isn’t as comprehensive as San Francisco’s. It only prevents the state from spending money on travel to the banned states. And it only covers 18 states that California’s attorney general has determined aren’t friendly enough to the gay and transgender community. No bans on abortion restrictions or racist voting laws yet.
But that could all change soon. California keeps adding new states to its list every year. Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia were all added in 2021 alone. As California falls further and further left, only more states will be added. Eventually, Californians may only be able to visit themselves.
