*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 U.S. and Canada have agreed to temporarily close their shared border to nonessential travel. President Donald Trump made that announcement Wednesday on Twitter as the two nations work to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the airline industry, even as momentum for an enormous bailout package builds in the White House and on Capitol Hill, ia growing backlash has been sparked among Democratic lawmakers, consumer advocates, and antitrust experts.
Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) told Cheddar’s J.D. Durkin on Tuesday,“[An airline bailout] is going to have to be a part of this immediate package
Stocks are closing solidly higher after President Donald Trump promised he's “going big” with plans to blunt the economic pain caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that New Yorkers should prepare for the possibility of a “shelter-in-place” order within the next 48 hours.
Stocks are adding sharply to their gains on Wall Street after President Donald Trump and his team announced more measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Stacey Cunningham, president of the New York Stock Exchange, told Cheddar on Tuesday that the markets remaining open is important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The White House announced major moves in coordination with the Federal Reserve to mitigate economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic which has brought some industries to a near halt.
Andrew Cuomo said this morning that the expected peak of infection is 45 days out, based on a hospitalization rate of between 15 to 19 percent.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
