I’m committed to putting more money in the pockets of working people. To do that, I’m adopting the Money Agenda – a commonsense set of proposals by advocates across the country that would transform the economy for working people.  

I will fight for 40×40×45, a simple promise: if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to make a fair wage and work with dignity. This means:

• Guarantee a $45,000 minimum income for full-time work and at least 40 hours of paid sick time. Workers should not be forced to choose between their health and their paycheck.
• Make the first $45,000 of income tax-free. We will pass the Cost of Living Tax Act so working families keep more of what they earn.
• Pay for these tax cuts for working people by asking the wealthy to contribute their fair share. We will pass a wealth tax and close loopholes that allow billionaires and corporations to avoid paying what they owe.
• Tax wealth the same as work. We will equalize capital gains and income tax rates and build a tax system rooted in basic fairness.

Make all jobs good jobs. We will expand protections for workers to unionize and collective bargaining rights.

Artificial intelligence is already transforming our economy. And unless there is a plan to protect workers, the plan is to exploit workers. Without strong guardrails, AI will further concentrate wealth, undermine workers, and allow corporations to replace human judgment with unaccountable algorithms.

That’s why I’m calling for a moratorium on building data centers and backing a number of strong protections and regulations that will support workers against AI disruption and displacement of workers and our communities against the environmental harms of the development of AI. My plan will:

• Ensure workers share in the wealth created by AI. We will create a public equity stake in AI development so the profits generated from human labor, creativity, and public investment are shared broadly through a dividend for working people.

   

• Protect workers from displacement and exploitation. We will prohibit companies from relying solely on AI to make hiring, firing, or disciplinary decisions and impose surcharges on corporations that conduct layoffs due to AI automation to fund worker protections and retraining.

   

• Guarantee economic security during technological change. We will establish a federal jobs guarantee with paid retraining, relocation support, and income protection for workers in industries transformed or displaced by AI.

   

• Put strong guardrails on the AI economy. We will enact strict environmental and labor protections for AI development, prevent rising utility and other costs related to development from being passed on to communities, strengthen intellectual property rights for human-created work used in AI systems, ensure organized labor has a seat at the table shaping the future of work, and protect states’ ability to implement AI safeguards.

To ensure these protections are more than promises on paper, the centerpiece of my plan is to call for a new federal enforcement agency: The Human Labor Protection Bureau (HLPB).

Modeled on the successful framework of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, this independent agency would be tasked with affirmatively protecting workers from harmful displacement and disruption caused by artificial intelligence.

The Bureau would enforce the laws protecting workers’ rights in the emerging AI economy, monitor and investigate companies to ensure compliance, and operate as a mechanism for workers to report potential violations.

We are in the midst of an affordability crisis. With the rising costs of childcare, housing, healthcare, and food, many of us can’t comfortably afford to live in the state we love and raise our children, live healthy lives in safe and vibrant communities, have a place to call home, and put food on the table. We need to make life more affordable for everyone. And we can. 

My plan will: 

• Guarantee a pathway to financial freedom. We will pass a universal basic income so every American has the financial security and freedom to build their future.

   

• Make it possible to raise a family. We will pass universal childcare so the security of knowing your children are taken care of while you work isn’t a luxury.

   

• Make housing affordable and abundant. We will build more affordable housing, implement federal rent stabilization, strengthen tenant protections like just-cause eviction and the right to counsel, and make major investments to end homelessness. Because housing is a human right.

   

• Expand opportunity for the next generation. We will cancel student debt, make public colleges and universities tuition-free, and invest in high-speed rail and public transit so all communities are connected to jobs, education, and economic opportunity.

• Expand and strengthen the power of unions. We will protect and expand the right to unionize and collective bargaining rights for workers and tenants and restore more power to the people.

Our economy has changed, but our safety net hasn’t. These days, workers change jobs, move cities, and chase new opportunities. But healthcare, retirement security, and basic protections are still tied to a single employer. These benefits are the scaffolding of the American Dream – and they should belong to workers and move with us wherever opportunity takes us. My plan will: 

• Make healthcare a human right. We will pass Medicare for All and ensure all people have access to the high-quality care they deserve.

• Protect the gig economy. Pass protections for gig workers, app-based workers, and other non-full time employees so labor protections against harassment, discrimination, and other mistreatment flow with the individual regardless of employment status.

   

• Guarantee dignity in retirement. Create portable retirement accounts that allow payroll deduction contributions like 401ks, but stay with workers across jobs so workers can build savings wherever they work and expand and protect Social Security so that people are guaranteed dignity in old age and no one is forced to retire into poverty after a lifetime of work.

Right now there are two sets of rules: one for billionaires and one for everyone else. The wealthy avoid taxes, are spared from consequences, and operate by a different standard while working people are left paying more for less. There should be one economy in America – and it should work for the people who power it.

To make that happen, we will:

• Create real power from consumers. We will break up monopolies and enforce antitrust laws to restore real competition and protect workers and consumers.

   

• Protect consumers from corporate and AI exploitation. We will ban AI-driven price manipulation in housing, groceries, and other essential goods and services. We will also crack down on price gouging, shrinkflation, and other corporate practices that force working families to pay more while getting less.