Bernie Sanders lashes out at Amazon with “BEZOS Act” tax bill
Jeff Bezos now has a piece of proposed legislation named after him.
On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders took his criticism of Amazon — and its founder — to a new level by introducing legislation that would tax corporations for every dollar that their low-wage workers receive in government benefits, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) The bill, which was also introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna, is called the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies, or BEZOS, Act. (The House version is called the Corporate Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act.)
The bill would institute a 100% tax on corporations with 500 or more employees equal to the amount of federal benefits received by their low-wage workers. If a worker at Amazon receives $2,000 in food stamps, for example, the corporation would be taxed $2,000 to cover that cost.
"Our legislation gives large, profitable employers a choice: Pay workers a living wage or pay for the public assistance programs their low-wage employees are forced to depend upon," Sanders said of the proposed law.
Last week, Amazon posted a blog on its website in which it fired back at Sanders’ escalating criticism of the company. It called Sanders’ claims about the pay and benefits it offers workers, and the worker conditions at Amazon’s fulfillment centers, as “inaccurate and misleading.”
On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders took his criticism of Amazon — and its founder — to a new level by introducing legislation that would tax corporations for every dollar that their low-wage workers receive in government benefits, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) The bill, which was also introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna, is called the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies, or BEZOS, Act. (The House version is called the Corporate Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act.)
The bill would institute a 100% tax on corporations with 500 or more employees equal to the amount of federal benefits received by their low-wage workers. If a worker at Amazon receives $2,000 in food stamps, for example, the corporation would be taxed $2,000 to cover that cost.
"Our legislation gives large, profitable employers a choice: Pay workers a living wage or pay for the public assistance programs their low-wage employees are forced to depend upon," Sanders said of the proposed law.
Last week, Amazon posted a blog on its website in which it fired back at Sanders’ escalating criticism of the company. It called Sanders’ claims about the pay and benefits it offers workers, and the worker conditions at Amazon’s fulfillment centers, as “inaccurate and misleading.”