The Money Agenda: 4 Bills Tackling Wealth Inequality

Learn about the Patriotic Millionaire's four proposed acts to tackle inequality through fair taxes, living wages, and wealth reform: The Equal Tax Act, "Cost of Living" Wage Act & "Cost of Living" Tax Cut, & the Anti-Oligarch Act.

In a recent podcast conversation, FED UP Millionaires FLIP THE SCRIPT With SHOCKING Proposal host Katie Phang, sat down with Erica Payne, the founder and president of Patriotic Millionaires, to discuss The Money Agenda, a bold economic proposal that challenges both political parties to rethink how America’s wealth is distributed. The message was clear: the current system is failing working people, and both Democrats and Republicans share the blame for protecting wealthy donors instead of ordinary citizens.

There are four Acts (also known as laws) that are part of The Money Agenda, which can help rebalance wealth distribution: 1) the Equal Tax Act, 2) the "Cost of Living" Tax Cut Act, 3) the "Cost of Living" Wage Act, and 4) the Anti-Oligarch Act. Let's dive in.

A Staggering Wealth Gap

This chart from the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, clearly shows how the middle class is becoming almost non-existent while wealth is being consolidated to the top 10% of earners.

(Learn more: https://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/)

Here's another chart from Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform, that shows wealth distribution in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2025, with two-thirds of the total wealth owned by the top 10%. The lowest 50% of earners owned only 2.5% of the total wealth.

• Top 0.1%: 0.1% of people hold 13.8% of total wealth. This is the ultra-wealthy group — about 1 in 1,000 households — owning nearly 1/7 of all wealth in the entire country.
• Next 0.9% (Top 1% excluding the top 0.1%): 0.9% of people hold 14.5% of total wealth. Combined with the top 0.1%, the richest 1% own 28.3% of U.S. wealth.
• Next 9% (Top 10% excluding the top 1%): 9% of people hold 38.6% of total wealth. These are high-net-worth households — professionals, business owners, and investors — making up the upper middle class and affluent elite.
• Next 40% (The “middle class”): 40% of people hold 30.3% of total wealth. This group represents a large portion of the population but a much smaller slice of wealth per household. They typically have home equity, retirement accounts, and modest savings.
• Bottom 50%: 50% of people hold 2.5% of total wealth. Half of all Americans collectively own less than 3% of the nation’s wealth — showing the extreme skew toward the top.

Find more statistics at Statista

Problem: Taxpayers Subsidize Corporations that Don't Pay a Living Wage

In the podcast, Payne pointed out that the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009, far below what’s needed to survive in today’s economy. According to the organization’s research, a real living wage — enough for a single adult with no children to cover basic needs — is about $45,700 per year, or roughly $21 per hour.

She made a powerful point:

“If you can’t afford to pay someone something they can live on, you can’t afford an employee.”

Right now, taxpayers are subsidizing some of America’s largest and most profitable corporations. Payne specifically called out Walmart, explaining that while the company earns billions in profits, its low-wage employees rely on SNAP benefits just to buy food.

“The top beneficiaries of SNAP are Walmart employees,” Payne said. “How about raise Walmart pay to $21 an hour at a minimum?”

This disconnect — billion-dollar profits on one side, taxpayer-funded assistance on the other — is exactly what The Money Agenda aims to fix.

Four Pillars of the Patriotic Millionaires proposed The Money Agenda

Patriotic Millionaires propose four legislative acts — each designed to tackle a different piece of economic inequality:

1. The Equal Tax Act, H.R. 5336

(Was introduced to Congress by Delia Ramirez (D-IL-District 3) on September 11, 2025, and referred to the Ways and Means Committee.)

Right now, wealthy investors pay a lower tax rate (the capital gains rate) on investment income. Workers pay a higher rate on labor income. The Equal Tax Act, H.R. 5336, would ensure that income is taxed equally, regardless of how it’s earned — restoring basic fairness to the tax code.

• The lower capital-gains tax rate only applies to investment income up to $1M. This will not change with the Equal Tax Act. Investment income up to $1M will continue to be taxed at the lower rate.
• In the Equal Tax Act, investment income ABOVE $1M gets taxed at the same higher rate workers pay. It eliminates the special discount wealthy investors currently get above $1M.

Payne illustrated how unfair the current system is: if one person earns $100,000 by working, they pay more in taxes than someone who earns the same amount by sitting on the beach trading stocks. She argued that this structure rewards wealth over work — letting those who already have money grow it faster, while those earning a paycheck carry the heavier burden.

• H.R.5336 - Equal Tax Act
• The Equal Tax Act is exactly what America needs [Patriotic Millionaires]
• Congresswoman Ramirez Introduces Legislation to Tax the Rich [ramirez.house.gov]
• Equal Tax Act Would Make the Tax Code More Equitable [Fair Economy]

2. The “Cost of Living” Tax Cut Act

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D, Maryland) stated on October 3, 2025, he would introduce the bill to Congress "shortly.")

The "Cost of Living" Tax Cut Act ensures people are not taxed into poverty and provides tax relief up to the cost of living, shifting the burden to millionaires through a surtax. The plan would:

• Eliminate federal income tax on the first $45,000 earned by individuals.
• Shift that tax responsibility to those earning over $1 million per year, using a tiered millionaire surtax:
  • 3% surtax on income above $1 million.
  • 8% surtax on income above 10 million

Under this plan, about 130 million working Americans would receive a meaningful tax cut, while roughly one million of the nation’s highest earners would pay slightly more. Payne called it “a shift from one group away from working people onto the political donor class.”

• America needs our “Cost of Living” Tax Cut Act [Patriotic Millionaires]
• Chris Van Hollen Is Angry—at Trump, and at His Party’s Lame Pollsters [The New Republic, October 3, 2025, Van Hollen stated he'll introduce the bill soon.]
• Thank Senator Chris Van Hollen [Action Network]

3. The “Cost of Living” Wage Act

(Not introduced to Congress yet, but a similar bill, the Raise the Wage Act of 2025,  was introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (D, Vermont), on April 8, 2025.

The "Cost of Living" Wage Act raises the federal minimum wage to match the cost of living for a single adult with no children — about $21 an hour — and indexes it to inflation. This would not only lift millions of workers out of poverty but also strengthen the middle class and consumer demand. As Payne put it, America doesn’t need “more absurdly rich executives — we need people who can afford to live.”

Two similar Bills have been introduced to Congress, but they fall short of what the Patriotic Millionaires are pushing for.

1. S. 1332 Raise the Wage Act of 2025: Introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I, Vermont) on April 8, 2025, which would raise the federal minimum wage progressively — up to $17/hour within about five years — and eliminate various “sub-minimum” wages (for tipped workers, youth workers, certain disability-wage certificates). It has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
2. H.R. 9873 The American Stability Act (Expired): Introduced by U.S. House Rep Summer Lee (D-PA-12) on September 27, 2024. The Act proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $15/hour and then tying it to a “stability wage” based on the cost of living and average earnings, so that wages automatically keep pace with inflation. Because it wasn’t passed before the 118th Congress ended, it expired when the 119th Congress began in January 2025.

The Anti-Oligarch Act

(Was introduced to Congress by Summer Lee (D-PA-District 12) on April 14, 2025, and referred to the Ways and Means Committee.)

The “Anti-Oligarch Act,” formally known as the Oligarch Act of 2025 (H.R. 2912), aims to rein in the massive concentration of wealth and political influence held by America’s richest families. Patriotic Millionaires argue that democracy can’t survive when a handful of billionaires control the nation’s resources and policy agenda. The act seeks to tax extreme fortunes and restore balance between economic power and democratic representation.

• Converts the estate and gift tax into a true inheritance tax so large fortunes are taxed when they pass from one generation to the next.
• Imposes a progressive tax on trust-held wealth, targeting the enormous inherited fortunes shielded inside dynasty trusts.
• Taxes lifetime capital gains above $25 million at progressively higher rates — with an option to tax gains annually rather than at sale — to prevent billionaires from avoiding taxes indefinitely.
• Establishes a second phase to reduce existing extreme concentrations of wealth, including taxing current ultra-rich fortunes — “even amending the Constitution if necessary” — to prevent hereditary oligarchies from dominating U.S. politics and the economy.

Process for Getting Acts Passed Into Law

When a bill is introduced in Congress, it begins a multi-step journey through the legislative process. There’s no single deadline like “by the end of the year,” but there is a hard limit: it must pass before the current Congress ends (a two-year session).

1. The timeline

• Each Congress lasts two years. The 119th Congress runs from January 3, 2025, through January 3, 2027.
• So any bill introduced now — like H.R. 5336 (Equal Tax Act), S. 1332 (Raise the Wage Act), or H.R. 2912 (Oligarch Act) — remains “alive” until the end of 2026, unless it’s passed, rejected, or withdrawn earlier.
• If it hasn’t passed both chambers (House and Senate) by January 3, 2027, it automatically expires, and lawmakers would need to reintroduce it in the next Congress (the 120th).

2. The process

To become law, each bill must:

• Be reviewed by a committee (for example, Ways and Means or Education and Labor). Committees can hold hearings, amend, or “table” the bill (which often means it quietly dies).
• Be voted on by the full chamber (House or Senate).
• If it passes one chamber, it goes to the other chamber for the same process.
• If both chambers pass identical versions, it goes to the President to be signed into law.
• If the versions differ, a conference committee resolves discrepancies.
• The President can sign or veto it. A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers.

While some parts of The Money Agenda have already reached Congress, others remain proposals awaiting sponsors — showing how this movement is still shaping the national conversation about economic fairness.

The Bigger Picture: Economic Stability as Patriotism

Erica Payne emphasized that Patriotic Millionaires aren’t anti-wealth. “These are rich people who like being rich and plan to stay rich,” she said. “But they want to live somewhere decent — where people aren’t miserable, hungry, and desperate.”

The movement’s message is fundamentally non-partisan: America cannot thrive when its prosperity is concentrated in the hands of a few. Both parties, Payne argued, have enabled the current imbalance by refusing to tax their donors, but the growing frustration of working people may finally force a change.

Learn More and Take Action

You can explore The Money Agenda at patrioticmillionaires.org/priorities or read the full legislative summary in the America 250 Executive Summary report. And contact your legislators to let them know what you want!

This overview is intended to explain the proposals and how they fit into current economic policy conversations, not to support or oppose any political party. If you disagree with these ideas or have concerns about the potential impact of any of these proposals, we want to hear from you. Share your perspective — what unintended consequences should be considered? What trade-offs matter most? We’re committed to including a range of viewpoints so readers can understand the full picture and make informed decisions. Contact us.