Look at California Prop 16 for a concrete example. It was universally supported by left-wing groups, endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce broadly and by many of the state's biggest companies individually, passed the legislature with 75%, but failed at the ballot box with only a touch above 40% in favor. When policies left-wing groups favor are that much more popular among business and government leaders than among the general public, I dunno what to call that other than "left leaning".
I don’t know about that specific legislation. The effect you describe makes me think that business and government are, in fact, right leaning.
When left-wing groups agree with right-leaning govt and business, perhaps the general public is a bit wary of bipartisan policies. An argument like: If it’s popular among partisans of both parties, then it must be particularly exploitative of the general public.
Prop 16 was a repeal of a previous amendment to the state constitution that effectively banned Affirmative Action in the state for public positions.
Basically, if Prop 16 passed, various public sector jobs would be able to consider race/sex/whatever when looking to hire.
That's technically a double-edged sword. As while it allows for things like Affirmative Action, it also allows for discrimination based on those attributes as well.
So I can see a perfectly reasonable reason while progressives would also be wary about passing Prop 16.
