Economy
A truly prosperous American economy is one that is diversified, driven by innovation, and works for all people. I believe that to achieve this across the country, we must embrace technology and use it as a vehicle to put people to work. I support advanced American manufacturing as well as a nationwide investment in high-tech apprenticeships and worker training programs.
Empowering a strong middle class will require an economy that benefits everyone, not just those at the top. And this starts by making good, technology-based jobs available and accessible across America. Enrico Moretti, a Berkeley economist, found that for every tech job, five other new jobs are created. This multiplier effect creates important service jobs such as baristas, doctors, lawyers, and dry cleaners, among many others.
I believe that working families are the backbone of this country, and that’s why I have made lifting them up a central part of my agenda. I am introducing a more than $1 trillion expansion of the earned income tax credit (EITC) that would provide a much-needed boost to American families to make up for wages lost to inflation over the past four decades.
I also support paid family leave, training programs for mid-career workers, and increasing the hourly minimum wage to $15. It is vital that we fight for working families, because they are the incubator of the American dream.
Consumer Protection
Consumer protection laws are Americans’ first lines of defense against unethical companies. These laws hold big corporations accountable and prevent harm to consumers. I support legislation that protects consumers and will oppose any bill to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Data breaches of major credit reporting bureaus demonstrate we need stronger laws to prevent situations like this from happening again. When you apply for a mortgage, credit card, auto loan, or almost anything having to do with credit, a company will check your credit report provided by the three private credit reporting companies.
What you can do to protect yourself
If you have a credit report, it is likely that your personal information was compromised by the Equifax data breach. Please take the time to go through the resources below and take the steps required to keep your identity safe.
- The Equifax Data Breach: What To Do (Federal Trade Commission)
- Identity Theft Protection Guide (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
- Top 10 ways to protect yourself in the wake of the Equifax data breach (CFPB)
- For Servicemembers: How to protect your identity (CFPB)
- Equifax isn’t calling (FTC)
What I am doing to protect you
In the wake of this disastrous breach of data and trust, I have signed onto the following bills that will help Americans respond to the Equifax hack now and protect your financial future.
- Credit Information Protection Act – Requires any credit reporting agency that suffers a data breach to allow consumers to initiate a security freeze on their information free of charge.
- Cyber VICTIM Act – Directs the President of the United States to designate a federal official as the Interagency Cyber Victim Response Coordinator.
- Personal Data Notification and Protection Act – Requires that companies and the FTC work together to notify affected individuals within 30 days of the discovery of a breach of sensitive personal information.
Click here to learn more about the bills that I introduced and cosponsored.
Read my op-ed in the Sacramento Bee on making the economy fairer for working families.
Read my op-ed in the Washington Post on how to improve U.S. manufacturing.
More on Economy
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has waged a relentless campaign against large corporations in an effort to raise wages for their workers, is now focusing attention on Walmart.
The “Stop WALMART Act,” introduced on Thursday with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), would prohibit large employers from from buying back stock until they pay all employees at least $15 an hour, allow employees to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave, and ensure that CEO compensation is not more than 150 times the median pay of all employees.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced legislation aimed at getting Walmart to pay its employees at least $15 an hour — the latest effort from progressives to push large companies to increase their wages and benefits.
Nancy Pelosi is facing an unexpected flare-up on climate change that is complicating relationships among House Democrats ahead of crucial leadership elections.
Incoming liberals, led by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, are demanding Pelosi go beyond her promise to revive a select committee on global warming; they want her and the rest of the Democratic Caucus to back an ambitious plan to transition the economy to 100 percent renewable energy in a little more than a decade.
First Amazon. Now Walmart.
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Ro Khanna introduced legislation to strengthen the Federal Reserve’s mandate to pursue robust job and wage growth, on the 40th anniversary of the signing of the law that enshrined the Fed’s “maximum employment” goal.
Named after the renowned leader in the civil rights and full employment movement, the Coretta Scott King Full Employment Federal Reserve Act directs the Federal Reserve to target wages that keep pace worker productivity growth and to shrink discrepancies in unemployment due to race, gender, or geography.
The Federal Reserve has two jobs. Unfortunately, over the past few decades, it's been doing one of them quite poorly: Ensuring unemployment remains low and wage growth high.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) thinks this is an issue Democrats should take on. And this afternoon he's releasing a bill to get the ball rolling.
The "Coretta Scott King Full Employment Federal Reserve Act of 2018" — named after the African-American activist who made full employment a hallmark of her civil rights efforts — would amend the Federal Reserve's obligations in several ways.
Two progressive lawmakers are lauding Amazon’s decision to raise the wage of its lowest-paid employees to $15 an hour following pressure on the company to pay its workers more.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who had criticized Amazon for low wages, both praised the company's CEO Jeff Bezos on Tuesday following the announcement.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) wants some credit for Amazon's new company-wide policy to hike its minimum wage to $15.
The progressive congressman representing California's 17th district has sponsored a House bill to complement Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) "Stop BEZOS Act." Khanna said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar he thinks his legislation applied more pressure to Amazon ($AMZN), which was already under scrutiny for the working conditions of its factory employees.
"It's a major, major victory," Khanna said. "I think [Bezos] has really set the bar."
One of the most popular policy ideas to reduce rising inequality and automated job loss is the expansion of the government's current wage subsidy program, the Earned Income Tax Credit. I recently advised one member of Congress, Ro Khanna, on a bill to massively increase the EITC, and increase its payout to $3,000-6,000 per year at a cost of $1.4T over a decade.
But, how would the government afford such a large expansion? And, how much would this method of payment hurt economic or job growth?