*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).
The law passed Thursday places new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative oversight of elections. Democrats and voting rights groups say the law will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color.
President Joe Biden is leaving the door open to backing fundamental changes in Senate procedure to muscle key parts of his agenda past Republican opposition.
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 684,000, the fewest since the pandemic erupted a year ago and a sign the economy is improving.
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) spoke to Cheddar about how his GOP colleagues should back universal background checks for gun purchasers while avoiding taking a hard stance on changes to the filibuster.
More than three months into the U.S. vaccination drive, many of the numbers paint an increasingly encouraging picture.
Cheddar previews the Thursday, March 25, Congressional hearing to feature Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
In an interview with Cheddar, New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D) said that there is now one bill on the table that is almost complete and is agreed upon by all legislative bodies in the state.
Prince Harry has joined the corporate world as employee coaching and mental health firm BetterUp Inc.’s Chief Impact Officer.
Democrats say they are pushing toward a vote on expanded gun control measures as the nation reels from it its second mass shooting in a week.
Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey talked to Cheddar about his concern that once the news cycle moves on, Americans will forget about the threat that remains against Asian and Asian American people.
