Bay Area voters decide tech industry should pay its dues

In two ballot measures that amounted to a regional referendum on how much tech corporations should contribute to the common good, voters in San Francisco and in Google's hometown of Mountain View, Calif., decided that some wealth redistribution was in order. (Sebastian Czapnik/Dreamstime/TNS)

The technology industry has turned the Bay Area into an economic powerhouse that many of the world's most valuable companies call home. 

But the influx of well-paid tech workers has also clogged the region's infrastructure and sent housing prices soaring, exacerbating a homelessness crisis on the streets of San Francisco.