*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 $15 wage so they can have a livable wage?"
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/congressman-ro-khanna-wants-major-corporations-to-improve-worker-pay-or-pay-more-in-taxes).
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, July 22, 2019.
*From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.*
TripAdvisor, a leading recommendations platform for global tourism, came under fire last week from Amnesty International for its scores of listings in Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, July 19, 2019.
Following Iran's seizure of a foreign oil tanker and the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone, Rep. Khanna is concerned about the alarming escalation between the two nations.
Rapper A$AP Rocky and two of his companions are currently being held in Sweden after an altercation in the city of Stockholm, but the hip-hop star's Congressman Adriano Espaillat believes race is a factor at play in the detention.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, July 18, 2019.
The House Financial Services Committee had more pointed questions for Facebook's David Marcus about the governing structure of the Libra Association in the second day of Congressional grilling.
Ebony Underwood was just 13 years old when her father William was arrested in 1988. Today, more than 30 years later, Underwood has joined a broad coalition of activists and lawmakers working for criminal justice reform. Through her advocacy group, We Got Us Now, she is fighting to make sure that children of incarcerated adults are not overlooked on the path to rectification.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, July 17, 2019.
