To: The Massachusetts State House and The Massachusetts State Senate
Massachusetts: Crack down on excessive CEO pay
Massachusetts Fair Share
I am deeply concerned with rapidly increasing inequality. It’s a bad thing for our economy – America is supposed to be a place where everyone gets a fair shot.
I urge you to support “SD 639 - An Act relative to excessive executive compensation,” which would impose a 2% tax on the profits of companies whose executives make more than 100 times what their average worker is paid.
Sincerely,
I urge you to support “SD 639 - An Act relative to excessive executive compensation,” which would impose a 2% tax on the profits of companies whose executives make more than 100 times what their average worker is paid.
Sincerely,
Why is this important?
Our economy is nearing a tipping point. We simply cannot continue to go down this path of ever-increasing inequality.
One of the driving factors of this widening gap is that while the economy has recovered from the recession and continues to grow, that growth isn’t reaching the middle class. It’s being gobbled up by Wall Street and company executives.
Despite record profits, corporations are giving less and less to help the middle class. A recent report showed that regular employees see the smallest percentage of corporate profit at any point since 1950 -- even while productivity has kept rising. [1]
There is a pending bill in the Massachusetts Senate that would push corporations to curb this trend. It's a simple idea: If a company pays their executives more than 100 times what the median salary is for that company, they would pay another 2% in taxes on their profits. This gives companies an incentive to raise the salaries of average employees while limiting CEO pay.
Massachusetts does best when everyone gets a fair shot and gets a fair share. Everyone should get a chance to work their way to a living wage.
1. Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute, "In 2013, Workers’ Share of Income in the Corporate Sector Fell to its Lowest Point since 1950."
http://www.epi.org/publication/2013-workers-share-income-corporate-sector/
One of the driving factors of this widening gap is that while the economy has recovered from the recession and continues to grow, that growth isn’t reaching the middle class. It’s being gobbled up by Wall Street and company executives.
Despite record profits, corporations are giving less and less to help the middle class. A recent report showed that regular employees see the smallest percentage of corporate profit at any point since 1950 -- even while productivity has kept rising. [1]
There is a pending bill in the Massachusetts Senate that would push corporations to curb this trend. It's a simple idea: If a company pays their executives more than 100 times what the median salary is for that company, they would pay another 2% in taxes on their profits. This gives companies an incentive to raise the salaries of average employees while limiting CEO pay.
Massachusetts does best when everyone gets a fair shot and gets a fair share. Everyone should get a chance to work their way to a living wage.
1. Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute, "In 2013, Workers’ Share of Income in the Corporate Sector Fell to its Lowest Point since 1950."
http://www.epi.org/publication/2013-workers-share-income-corporate-sector/