Warren Would Use Wealth Tax to Fund $800 Billion Education Plan
October 21 2019 - 9:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Joshua Jamerson
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for $800 billion
in additional federal funding for public education, a move that
would exhaust the remaining revenue to be raised by her proposed
wealth tax even as she seeks ways to finance Medicare for All.
Ms. Warren outlined on the blog site Medium an additional $450
billion in Title I funding to boost schools with low-income
students, $200 billion in grants for students with disabilities and
$100 billion in other grants over 10 years. She also vowed to
invest $50 billion in school infrastructure on top of existing
funding for school upgrades that are in some of her other policy
proposals.
Other 2020 Democrats have unveiled education plans, as they and
Ms. Warren look to appeal to teachers and the powerful unions
representing them. Ms. Warren's proposals appeared the most
detailed among the three Democratic candidates with the highest
support in public polling.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has broadly pledged to increase
federal funds for teacher pay, double the number of school
mental-health professionals to ease the burden placed on teachers
and fix a troubled federal debt-forgiveness program so teachers can
more easily qualify to have their loans erased. Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders made a moratorium on new charter schools, along with a ban
on charters operated by for-profit companies, the centerpiece of an
education platform he rolled out earlier this year. Mr. Sanders
also called for tripling Title I funding and said that he would
bolster support for special needs education.
For the Warren campaign, the education plan marks the final
proposal to be paid for by her proposed wealth tax, which she
frequently pitches to voters as a reservoir that could finance her
progressive priorities. Now that it is exhausted, she will need to
find new ways to raise revenue for other proposals -- something she
has done before, as when she proposed a net investment income tax
on high-income households to extend the life of Social
Security.
For example, Ms. Warren previously said she would use the wealth
tax to pay for a $100 billion opioids plan, the creation of a $7
billion small business equity fund, and a $20 billion election
security plan. A Warren aide said those plans would now be paid for
by closing a loophole in tax law on inherited assets. (The aide
said the change was made because of Ms. Warren's desire to have all
her education proposals covered by the wealth tax.)
The Warren wealth tax is a proposed 2% annual levy on household
wealth above $50 million and an additional 1% tax on wealth above
$1 billion. It would affect about 75,000 households and raise $2.75
trillion over a decade, her campaign estimates. While Ms. Warren
sees the tax as a tool to help alleviate inequality, critics say it
would hurt the economy and that many wealthy Americans would find
ways to avoid it. It would also face a steep path to passage in
Congress.
In addition to the public education plan announced Monday, the
wealth tax would pay for universal child care as well as a
higher-education plan, which includes student-debt cancellation and
tuition-free public college.
The full allocation of the proposed wealth-tax revenue comes as
Ms. Warren faces pressure from her rivals to present a health-care
plan. The senator said in Iowa over the weekend that she would soon
release a plan with "the exact details" on how she would pay for a
Medicare for All health-care system.
Though the wealth tax would finance much of Ms. Warren's
platform, she hadn't pitched it on the campaign trail as a way to
finance Medicare for All. Instead, she tacked closely to Mr.
Sanders' proposed Medicare for All legislation.
Mr. Sanders has said taxes would go up to finance Medicare for
All but the higher tax bill would be more than offset by decreased
health-care costs. Ms. Warren has been less specific on how she'd
pay for a government-run health system, and when asked directly,
she has avoided the question of whether the middle class would pay
more in taxes -- something her rivals have pounced on. And some of
her own most avid supporters say that they too want to hear more
specifics.
Several of Ms. Warren's top aides have been calling health-care
experts in recent weeks as her campaign examines revenue models to
fund Medicare for All, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.
The campaign has acknowledged that Ms. Warren has been looking at
revenue streams to fund Medicare for All but the senator's remarks
Sunday in Iowa were the first time she has stated she was working
on her own plan.
"Nothing's changed," Ms. Warren told reporters. "It's that I've
been working for a long time on this question about what costs will
be and how to pay for it. And I'm getting close. It's just got a
little more work that it needs."
Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2019 09:14 ET (13:14 GMT)
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