Invest in Ohio workers

Published 9:03 am Tuesday, September 19, 2017

It’s time American companies invest in their greatest asset: the American Worker.

As Washington turns its attention to tax reform, I want to cut taxes for working families and for businesses that support good-paying American jobs – not multinational corporations that ship our jobs overseas or squeeze American workers. I want to see tax reform that puts Ohio workers first.

I recently rolled out two pieces of my plan to make hard work pay off once again – two bills that work together to encourage businesses to invest in American workers.

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The first is the Patriot Employer Tax Credit, which is simple. Businesses that do things right – that pay good wages and have good benefits, commit to keeping jobs in this country, and treat their employees as vital to their companies – should get a tax cut.

That’s how we encourage companies to do the right thing.

We also need to crack down on corporations that shortchange their workers. When corporations refuse to pay workers a living wage, refuse them the opportunity to save for retirement, and refuse to provide decent health care, they create a drag on our economy.

And it’s American taxpayers who pick up the tab. That is why my plan creates the Corporate Freeloader Fee.

If you’re a huge corporation and you choose to pay your workers so little that they are disproportionately forced onto government assistance, then you need to reimburse American taxpayers. And to be clear, I’m not talking about small businesses in Ohio, I’m talking only about mega-corporations.

No one working 40 hours a week should be forced onto food stamps, housing vouchers, Medicaid, or other government aid just to stay afloat, and American taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize wages for mega-corporations.

It’s not multinational corporations that drive the economy – its American workers. These bills are a step in the right direction toward restoring the value of work for American workers and businesses alike.

 

Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is the senior U.S. senator representing Ohio. His office can be reached at 202-224-2315.