Bernie Sanders Introduces “Stop BEZOS Act” Targeting Amazon Wages

On September 5, 2018, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act”—the “Stop BEZOS Act”—legislation designed to force large corporations like Amazon and Walmart to pay workers living wages by taxing companies for federal assistance their low-wage employees received. The bill, co-sponsored by Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA), directly targeted Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s practice of paying wages so low that workers qualified for food stamps, Medicaid, and public housing while Bezos became the world’s richest person.

The Bill’s Structure and Provisions

The Stop BEZOS Act would levy a 100% tax on large employers equal to the value of public benefits their workers received. For companies with more than 500 employees—including independent contractors and franchise workers—every dollar a worker received in federal assistance would be matched by a dollar tax on the employer.

Covered public assistance programs included:

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/food stamps)
• Medicaid
• Section 8 housing vouchers
• Reduced-price school lunches
• Other federal assistance programs for low-income families

The legislation included anti-discrimination provisions making it unlawful for large employers to ask employees whether they qualified for federal benefits, preventing companies from avoiding the tax through discriminatory hiring or firing practices based on workers’ benefit status.

Sanders’ Rationale: Corporate Welfare for Billionaires

Sanders framed the legislation as ending corporate welfare that subsidized billionaire wealth accumulation. In introducing the bill, he argued that if employers paid living wages, taxpayers would save $150 billion annually on government assistance programs. The bill’s title directly invoked Jeff Bezos as the emblematic figure of this exploitation—the world’s richest person presiding over a company whose workers often couldn’t afford food or housing without government assistance.

Sanders stated: “We believe that there is something profoundly wrong in America when the taxpayers have to subsidize the wealthiest person in the world because he pays his workers inadequate wages.” He specifically called out Amazon: “Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is the wealthiest person in the world worth over $155 billion. He just purchased the Washington Post for $250 million in cash. Despite all of Bezos’ wealth, many Amazon employees are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing to survive because of the inadequate wages and benefits Amazon pays.”

The legislation was designed to create a binary choice for corporations: pay workers enough to live on, or pay the government to subsidize worker poverty on the company’s behalf.

Political Context and Amazon’s Vulnerability

The Stop BEZOS Act emerged during a period of intense scrutiny of Amazon’s labor practices. Throughout 2018, Sanders had been publicly challenging Amazon, highlighting worker testimonies about grueling conditions, impossible productivity quotas, and wages insufficient to cover basic necessities. Amazon workers had been organizing campaigns demanding $15 minimum wage and better conditions.

The bill targeted Amazon at a moment of particular vulnerability:

• Public awareness of warehouse worker conditions was increasing
• Media investigations had documented brutal working conditions
• Amazon was facing organizing efforts in multiple facilities
• Bezos’s extreme wealth contrasted sharply with worker poverty
• The company’s tax avoidance strategies were facing scrutiny

Sanders coordinated the bill with worker testimonies, staging events where Amazon employees described relying on food banks and public assistance despite working full-time for one of the world’s most profitable companies. This created powerful narratives contrasting Bezos’s $155 billion net worth with workers sleeping in cars or skipping meals.

Amazon’s Response and the $15 Wage Announcement

The Stop BEZOS Act created enormous political pressure on Amazon. The legislation framed the company’s low wages not just as a labor issue but as a form of corporate welfare—forcing taxpayers to subsidize Amazon’s business model while Bezos accumulated unprecedented wealth. This reframing proved politically potent, appealing across partisan lines to voters frustrated with both corporate power and government spending.

One month after the Stop BEZOS Act introduction, on October 2, 2018, Amazon announced it would raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all U.S. employees. Bezos stated: “We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead.” While Amazon didn’t explicitly credit Sanders’s legislation, the timing was unmistakable—the political cost of resisting had become too high.

However, as would quickly become apparent, Amazon’s wage increase came with significant catches. The company simultaneously eliminated monthly bonuses and stock awards that many workers had relied on, meaning some workers’ total compensation actually decreased. This pattern—public concessions that masked continued exploitation—would characterize Amazon’s approach to labor pressure for years to come.

Significance: Political Accountability for Labor Exploitation

The Stop BEZOS Act represented a significant evolution in political responses to corporate labor exploitation. Rather than simply advocating for minimum wage increases or union rights, Sanders created legislation that would directly penalize companies for paying poverty wages by recapturing the public costs of subsidizing low-wage work.

The bill’s naming strategy—directly invoking Bezos—personalized corporate accountability in a way that resonated with public anger about extreme wealth inequality. It reframed the debate from “should workers be paid more?” to “should billionaires be subsidized by taxpayers?” This reframing proved remarkably effective at generating public support and corporate response.

While the Stop BEZOS Act never became law, it achieved significant policy impact by creating political pressure that contributed to Amazon’s $15 wage increase and by establishing a template for future corporate accountability legislation. The bill demonstrated that targeted political campaigns focusing on specific companies and executives could force concessions even without passage into law.

The legislation also highlighted the connection between corporate tax avoidance, worker exploitation, and public subsidy—Amazon paid effectively no federal taxes in 2017 despite $5.6 billion in U.S. profits while its workers received billions in public assistance. This multi-dimensional framing of corporate accountability would influence subsequent progressive policy proposals around wealth taxation, corporate taxation, and labor standards.

For labor advocates, the Stop BEZOS Act provided a roadmap for how political pressure could complement worker organizing. While ultimately workers would need union representation and collective bargaining rights to secure lasting improvements, strategic legislation targeting specific companies could create opening conditions for organizing and shift public narratives about corporate responsibility for worker welfare.