*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).
State Senator Tom Umberg introduced legislation to regulate DNA data collected by popular testing services like 23andMe and Ancestry.com.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced last month that tariffs as high as 100 percent could be added to products such as Irish and Scotch whiskeys, Cognac, and Parmesan cheese as soon as mid-February.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
For the first time, China disclosed information about the effect of the virus on medical workers — 1,716 medical workers have contracted the novel coronavirus and six have died.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, February 14, 2020.
The former NYC mayor tried something different in the Democratic primary race so far, pushing memes on Instagram that left some potential voters and experts scratching their heads.
Activist and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor Brendan Duff joined hip-hop star will.i.am to promote a new documentary about the tragic day and to stand up for young voters.
A Republican-led coalition of fossil fuel giants, environmental advocates, and former federal policymakers on Thursday issued a "Roadmap" to addressing climate change that, while labeled as "Bipartisan," is particularly aimed at garnering GOP support.
The World Health Organization Thursday pointed to a change in reporting, rather than a sudden acceleration of infections. But for many, it strengthened the concern that nobody really knows how widespread the illness is, and there appears to be no good way to figure it out.
The Senate has approved a bipartisan measure limiting President Donald Trump's authority to launch military operations against Iran. The resolution says Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action.
