Why unions love the ‘Billionaire Tax’

This month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation that would impose a 5 percent annual wealth tax on the roughly 1,000 Americans whose net worth exceeds $1 billion.

The proposal is a nonstarter in the current Congress, but Sanders intends to use it as a litmus test for 2028 Democratic presidential candidates.

It has attracted a coalition of supporters — chief among them government employee unions.  

That might seem like an odd pairing, but the logic becomes clear once you trace where the money is supposed to go. Sanders’ legislation would redirect the projected revenue — $4.4 trillion over a decade — into an array of new federal spending programs, including direct cash payments, a federal salary floor for public school teachers and expanded Medicare benefits.

Not coincidentally, pouring money into such programs means more federal employees, more union-eligible positions and more dues flowing into union bank accounts.  

The relationship between government union growth and federal spending is no coincidence. Larger government is, quite simply, the business model of public-sector unions.  

Their membership, their revenue and their political influence all depend on an expanding public payroll. According to a recent Commonwealth Foundation report, the nation’s four largest public-sector unions — the NEA, AFT, SEIU and AFSCME — collectively spent $915 million on elections and progressive political activism during the 2024 election........

© The Hill