*By Christian Smith*
Congressman Ro Khanna wants to inspire companies to do better by their workers.
"It's absurd that you have multi-billion dollar companies, trillion-dollar companies that aren't able to pay their workers $15," Rep. Khanna said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
That's why the prominent House progressive, who represents California's Silicon Valley, is teaming up with ex-presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to introduce legislation that would place a tax on large corporations ー money that is equivalent to the amount of federal benefits their low-income employees receive to make a livable wage.
Rep. Khanna's House bill is called the "Corporate Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act" and targets large companies across industries, including tech, retail, and fast food, he said.
Sanders was a little more pointed with his version, dubbed the "Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act." That's Stop BEZOS, if you didn't notice.
Rep. Khanna said that Amazon has responded to the Sanders bill, saying the company creates safe working spaces for employees and offers competitive benefits. But the Congressman said the point of benefits is a separate matter.
"They're still not addressing the fundamental point," Khanna said.
"Why can't they just come out and say they're going to pay every employee in our company at least a $15 wage so they can have a livable wage?"
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/congressman-ro-khanna-wants-major-corporations-to-improve-worker-pay-or-pay-more-in-taxes).
Authorities say two Ecuadoran children were abandoned by smugglers after being dropped over a 14-foot-high barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border Tuesday evening.
The still-elevated number of unemployment claims shows that many employers are still cutting jobs even as more businesses reopen, vaccines are increasingly administered and federal aid spreads through the economy.
With President Biden unveiling a $2.9 trillion infrastructure plan, the old gas tax formula may not be able to serve as a matching revenue source, especially with the consistent drumbeat of growing the electric vehicle market.
The Minneapolis officer who put his knee on George Floyd's neck defended himself to a bystander afterward by saying Floyd was “a sizable guy” and “probably on something."
The Biden administration for the first time has allowed journalists inside its main border detention facility for migrant children.
Microsoft won a nearly $22 billion contract to supply U.S. Army combat troops with its virtual reality headsets.
President Joe Biden wants $2.3 trillion to reengineer America’s infrastructure and expects the nation’s corporations to pay for it.
Andrew Williamson, vice president of global government affairs and economic adviser for Huawei, spoke to Cheddar about the Chinese telecom company's lack of communication with President Biden regarding ongoing trade tensions with the U.S.
As Cheddar celebrates phenomenal women during the month of March, we're taking a second to highlight a few trailblazers who have helped shape the world we live in.
It's official: Lawmakers and Gov. Cuomo have made New York the 15th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
