New Bill Would Send Up To $12,000 To New Yorkers

A new proposal could put thousands of dollars into the pockets of many New Yorkers.

Lawmakers are fighting to send checks of up to $15,000 to New Yorkers.

$12,000 direct payments would go to New York families under new proposal

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Democratic Senators Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna are trying to pass a bill called "Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act."

The legislation targets America's billionaires and aims to redistribute revenue to working families.

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“At a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, this legislation demands that the billionaire class in America finally pay their fair share of taxes so that we can create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%,” Sanders said in a press release.

How It Would Work

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The proposal calls for $3,000 direct payments for every person living in homes earning $150,000 or less.

A family of four would receive $12,000 in the program's first year. A family of five would receive $15,000 and so on.

The proposal applies to every "man, woman, and child" in households earning $150,000 or less.

The payments would be funded from a five percent annual wealth tax on the roughly 900 billionaires across the nation.

“We can no longer tolerate a corrupt tax code that enables billionaires to pay a lower tax rate than the average worker," Sanders added. "We cannot tolerate 60% of our people living paycheck to paycheck — struggling to pay for housing, food and health care — while 938 billionaires have become $1.5 trillion richer.

Minimum Salary For Public School Teachers

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The bill also wants to establish a $60,000 minimum salary for public school teachers, build seven million affordable homes, and expand Medicare to include dental, vision, and hearing.

While the bill is gaining some traction from Democrats, it still faces steep opposition in Congress.

To become law, it would need to pass both the House and the Senate and be signed by the President.