Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representative Brendan F. Boyle (D-Pa.), led over 45 lawmakers in reintroducing the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, legislation that would apply a wealth tax to fortunes above $50 million. According to a new analysis, the bill would generate $6.2 trillion in revenue over the next decade, more than double the score of the bill when it was first introduced five years ago and enough money to pay for investments like universal child care, free community college, Medicare expansion, and more — without raising taxes on 99.85% of American households.
“As millions of families are struggling under the weight of inflation, tariffs, and rising gas prices, the richest billionaires continue to see their net worth grow. We live in the richest country in the world, but that wealth is incredibly concentrated in a tiny group of people. It’s time to tax the rich and level the playing field to ensure that every American has a chance to succeed,” said Representative Jayapal. “The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act is a major step toward making sure the wealthy finally pay their fair share. With this legislation, we can narrow the racial wealth gap and invest trillions of dollars in health care, schools, clean energy, housing, and more to improve lives in communities across America.”
“While multi-millionaires and billionaires are getting richer and richer, families are getting squeezed by a rigged economy. My bill is about basic fairness and making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share. It’s time for the government to stop listening to the richest of the rich and start working for working people,” said Senator Warren.
“A secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than the CEO. The current tax code is rigged against working people and the middle class. Our proposal finally changes this and makes billionaires pay their fair share,” said Representative Brendan F. Boyle.
While millions of families are struggling, billionaires have watched their fortunes skyrocket. According to an analysis from economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the richest 0.1% of Americans hold nearly as much wealth as the bottom 90% of families combined. Instead of tackling this inequality, the Trump administration has turbocharged the crisis, slashing health care coverage for millions of families to deliver over $1 trillion in tax cuts to the top 1%.
The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would level the playing field and narrow the racial wealth gap by asking the wealthiest 260,000 households in America, or the top 0.15%, to pay their fair share. The bill would establish a 2% annual tax on the net worth of households and trusts valued at over $50 million and an additional 1% annual surtax (3% total annual tax) on the net worth of households and trusts above $1 billion. The bill also includes robust anti-evasion and avoidance measures, including $100 million in new funding for the IRS and a 40% “exit tax” on the wealth of ultra-millionaires and billionaires who renounce their citizenship to avoid the tax.
10 Senators co-sponsored the bill, the largest coalition of Senate cosponsors supporting the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act to date: Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
Additionally, 39 Representatives co-sponsored the bill, the largest coalition of House supporters to date: Representatives Greg Casar (D-Texas), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Donald Beyer Jr. (D-Va.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.).
With the $6.2 trillion in revenue the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would generate, the federal government could make serious investments in lowering costs for families. The revenue could pay for all the following policies combined — with money left to spare:
- Provide universal, affordable childcare
- Lower rents by building millions of new homes
- Slash child poverty by expanding the Child Tax Credit
- Lower the Medicare eligibility age to 55
- Offer universal paid family leave
- Establish tuition-free community college
The bill is endorsed by nearly 40 unions, advocacy groups, and national organizations, including: Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), UNITE HERE, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Communications Workers of America, National Education Association, United Steelworkers, Americans for Tax Fairness, Public Citizen, Americans for Financial Reform, Main Street Alliance, Patriotic Millionaires, P Street, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Groundwork Collaborative, Oxfam America, People’s Action Institute, the Sunrise Movement, MomsRising, Center for Law and Social Policy, Take on Wall Street, Health Care For America Now, Indivisible, Jobs With Justice, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Responsible Wealth, United for a Fair Economy, Liberation in a Generation, Voices for Progress, Coalition for Human Needs, Liberation in a Generation, Climate Hawks Vote, Organized Power in Numbers, Tax the Greedy Billionaires, and Campaign for America’s Future.
“It’s time the super-rich start paying their fair share. By asking the ultra-wealthy to contribute just a small percentage of their extreme fortunes, we can generate trillions in revenue to invest directly in the needs of everyday Americans—lowering costs, expanding opportunity, and strengthening the middle class. The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act will help ensure that prosperity is shared by all who create it, not concentrated in the hands of a few,” said Jody Calemine, AFL-CIO Director of Advocacy.
“Anti-worker extremists in Congress and their billionaire backers are slashing safety net programs and rigging the tax code to make the ultra-wealthy richer as working families are pushed closer to the brink. The working people who keep this country running shouldn’t be the ones carrying a heavier tax burden than the richest 0.1%. It’s past time billionaires paid their fair share, so we can invest in the public services that working people need — from child care to health care to food support. Congress must pass Senator Warren and Rep. Jayapal’s Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act now,” said Lee Saunders, President of AFSCME.
“Working Americans understand that in order to ensure a strong future for our communities, we must raise revenue to invest in critical infrastructure and other shared resources. Yet the ultra-rich continue to hoard wealth, skirting the tax code to avoid paying their fair share. Our union applauds Sen. Warren’s efforts to hold these freeloaders accountable so that they too contribute to our nation’s enduring success,” said Roxanne Brown, President of USW International.
“Our tax system is unjust. It is littered with loopholes that benefit the ultrawealthy, allowing them to game the system while working people pay higher rates than Wall Street’s billionaires and multi-millionaires. The Ultra-Millionaire Tax is a key policy needed to make the superrich pay their fair share of taxes and build an economy that works better for the rest of us,” Ericka Taylor, Co-executive Director of Americans for Financial Reform.
“To whom much is given, much is expected: That is not simply what many of us believe spiritually; it is the foundation of a progressive income and wealth tax code. Billionaires and ultra-millionaires have reaped the benefits of globalization and other economic trends that enabled their wealth to soar. The tax code should not insulate this windfall; it must be fairer,” said Randi Weingarten, President of AFT. “Unlike what the current administration has done to create more of a windfall, the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would level the playing field for working families and ask the 250,000 wealthiest households to finally begin paying their fair share. Working families deserve an economy that gives them a shot at a better life and a tax code that doesn’t bend over backward to reward wealth over work.”
“We have long treated care as a private burden rather than a public responsibility, shifting the burden onto families and expecting underpaid, undervalued workers to carry the weight. By asking the wealthiest households to finally pay their fair share, the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act is our opportunity to make meaningful investments in our care infrastructure and ensure that families across the country can afford childcare and have paid leave care workers earn family-sustaining wages, and older Americans age and disabled loved ones live with dignity. This legislation is a transformative step toward an economy that values dignity for the many, not just wealth for the few.” said Haeyoung Yoon, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
“The American public is rightly infuriated by the very wealthy being able to avoid paying their fair share in taxes, especially when everyday people are having such a hard time making ends meet as costs continue to rise,” said Susan Harley, managing director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would not only begin to rebalance the gross inequities in our tax code but it would also generate trillions of dollars in new revenues that can be reinvested in programs that make life more affordable for everyone.”
“Across the country, American families are struggling while the ultrarich drive up costs, lay off workers, and hoard their wealth. This consolidation of wealth threatens our democracy and our economy. The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act from Senator Warren and Congresswoman Jayapal is more than just a tax proposal; it’s a vision for rebuilding our economy around the everyday people who power it, instead of the billionaires at the top,” said Emma Lydon, Managing Director of P Street.
“For far too long, the wealth of ultra-millionaires and billionaires has continued to rise while investment in basic services has stagnated or been cut altogether. Under Republicans and President Trump, Congress is spending trillions of dollars on tax cuts that only benefit the ultra wealthy while everyday Americans feel the pressure of an increasingly unaffordable cost of living,” said David Kass, Americans For Tax Fairness’s Executive Director. “The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act asks the wealthiest 0.15% of households to pay a 2% tax on wealth over $50 million—3% above $1 billion—generating $6.2 trillion over 10 years. This would help raise the revenue necessary to enact policies that would help lower costs for working families, including funding universal childcare, affordable housing, an expanded Child Tax Credit, Medicare at 55, paid family leave, and tuition-free community college. If we want an economy that works for all Americans and not just the wealthy few, we need legislation like this to rebalance the scales towards workers and families.”
“The United States is capable of sustaining the rich, stable and free economy and country the vast majority of Americans—regardless of political party—actually want. The only way to ensure we get there, though, is by building a tax system that puts a check on the extreme inequality that threatens our economy and our democracy,” said Morris Pearl, Chair of Patriotic Millionaires. “Millionaires like me want less inequality because we and our families will be better off in a society with less economic disparity. And it’s not because I’m good or altruistic. I am not any more altruistic than the next person, I’m just greedy for a different kind of country than some other rich people in America. I’m willing to pay more in taxes if it means helping us become the kind of country I know we can be. The Patriotic Millionaires are proud to support the Ultra Millionaire Tax Act, and we urge Congress to act quickly to make this law.”
Issues: Jobs, Labor, & the Economy