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Bernie Sanders wants to tax companies whose workers rely on public assistance

Jed Kim Sep 6, 2018
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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (C) pauses during a news conference at the Capitol March 7, 2018 in Washington, DC.   Alex Wong/Getty Images

Bernie Sanders wants to tax companies whose workers rely on public assistance

Jed Kim Sep 6, 2018
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (C) pauses during a news conference at the Capitol March 7, 2018 in Washington, DC.   Alex Wong/Getty Images
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Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill on Wednesday that would tax companies for any public assistance dollars their workers receive, like food stamps or Medicaid money. It’s called the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies, or Stop BEZOS Act — a not-so-subtle jab at Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos. The goal is to incentivize companies to pay higher wages. University of California, Berkeley’s Labor Center estimates that more than $150 billion in taxes goes to help low-wage employees make ends meet each year. But critics aren’t so sure about the bill’s strategy.

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