Bernie Sanders Introduces New Wall Street Tax To Fund Free College Tuition

  • by:
  • Source: Forbes
  • 04/21/2021
TOPLINE
 
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on Wednesday introduced legislation to make college tuition free for millions of Americans, paid for by a new tax on Wall Street trades. 

KEY FACTS
 
  • The College for All Plan would make community college and trade school tuition free for everyone, and it would eliminate tuition at public four-year colleges and universities for students from families earning less than $125,000 per year.
  • ’It would also make tuition free at private Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions for students from families in that income bracket. 
  • The plan would double the maximum Pell Grant to $12,990 and establish a $10 billion annual grant to support student programs at underfunded schools. 
  • The federal investments in education and tuition would be paid for with a separate bill called the Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act, which would levy a new tax of 0.5% on stock trades, a 0.1% fee on bond trades and a 0.005% fee on derivatives. 
  • This isn’t the first time Sanders has pushed for a financial transaction tax—he floated the idea during his presidential campaign in 2016 and introduced legislation containing the tax in 2019.
CRUCIAL QUOTE

“While President Biden can and should immediately cancel student debt for millions of borrowers, Congress must ensure that working families never have to take out these crushing loans to receive a higher education in the first place,” Jayapal said in a statement.

BIG NUMBER

$2.4 trillion. That’s how much the new tax on Wall Street transactions could raise over the next decade, according to a summary of the legislation. When the Tax Policy Center analyzed Sanders’ campaign proposal for a financial transaction tax (a plan he said would raise $3 trillion over a decade), it concluded that the proposal would only generate about $400 billion in revenue. 

CHIEF CRITIC
 
Not everyone is a fan of new taxes on Wall Street trades. “A financial transaction tax would decrease returns for people saving to buy a house, pay for college or retire,” Tom Quaadman, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, said in a statement reported by CNBC in 2019. “It would also make it more expensive for businesses to raise the capital they need to start, expand, and create jobs.” 
 
by is licensed under

Help FAIRtax Become The Number One Issue in 2024

Enacting the FAIRtax must be a prominent topic in these times. We did it before, we can do it again, but we need your help!

Help out with a One-Time Contribution

Your gift of $25, $50, $100 – even $1,000 or more if you can possibly spare it – will help FAIRtax.org bring an end to the IRS and promote a FAIRtax. So, I urge you, please give as generously as you can.

Billing information (REQUIRED)

Payment information (REQUIRED)

To donate by check:
Americans for Fair Taxation
PO Box 4929
Clearwater, FL 33758

If you need to make changes to your existing Monthly Re-Occurring Donation with new card or billing address information, then Please call Adam Yomtov our New York State Co-Director. He is assisting with the administration of our donations, technology services, and website.

Please note: Inputting your new information at our website won't update your donation. The only way to update is by calling Adam Yomtov 917-689-3931 mobile.


Americans for Fair Taxation® is a 501(c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization solely dedicated to replacing the current income tax system with a fair, simple and transparent national consumption tax – the FAIRtax® Plan. We rely entirely on contributions from concerned citizens like you who want a tax system that will generate jobs and stimulate the economy. Welcome to the FAIRtax team!

Connect

Share