(The Center Square) — Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner is calling for a tax on the nation’s top earners as he seeks a nod from the Democratic Party to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins this fall.
Platner, a political newcomer challenging Gov. Janet Mills for the party’s nomination, rolled out his “End Billionaire Welfare: A Tax Plan for the Rest of Us” proposal on Wednesday that would set a 5% to 6% tax on wealth over $1 billion. He said a wealth tax would provide more than $4 trillion in federal funding for building new housing, transportation and safety-net programs.
“Income taxes alone cannot address the massive concentration of wealth that has happened because of our existing tax code,” he said in remarks on Wednesday. “Only a tax on that wealth can do so.”
Platner is also calling for taxing capital gains and dividends from investments at the same rate as wages, instead of the current lower rate, which he says benefits the ultra-wealthy at working people’s expense.
“We currently tax an honest day’s labor at nearly seven times the rate of investment gains,” Platner said in remarks. “This gap shields those living off inheritances in stock from the same responsibilities the rest of us have to pay every single day. A paycheck and a portfolio should be taxed at the same rate.”
Platner jumped into the race in August with support from progressives, including Democratic Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who argues that the political newcomer is the party’s best shot at defeating Collins next year and regaining control of the U.S. Senate for Democrats.
Mills, 77, a two-term governor and former attorney general, jumped into the race in October. She is prevented from seeking another term.
An Emerson College Polling survey released in March showed Platner leading Mills by about 27 points in the Senate Democratic contest, with the political newcomer garnering 55% support to Mill’s 28%. About 17% said “someone else” or were undecided, according to the poll. Other polls have shown Platner leading Mills by similar margins.
Whoever emerges from the Democratic primary will face a formidable challenge to unseat Collins, who remains popular among a broad cross-section of Maine voters, including independents.
Platner’s full-throated support for a wealth tax comes after he was endorsed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive Democrat. Warren is the primary sponsor of a perennial proposal for an “ultra-millionaire” tax, a 2% levy on Americans with a net worth of $50 million or more, which has failed to gain traction in Congress.
Collins, who has voted against previous wealth tax proposals in the Senate, has previously said she isn’t opposed to taxing billionaires to increase federal funding but said the legislation must include a “carve out” to protect small business owners who pay taxes through the individual income tax system.
The Maine race is being watched by national political observers as Democrats push to retake the Senate — where Republicans currently have a 53-47 majority — in the midterms.
