Washington, D.C. – Today, John Lettieri, President and CEO of the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), will testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget, at its hearing on, “The Income and Wealth Inequality Crisis in America.”
Mr. Lettieri’s testimony outlines four areas where Congress can work on a broad, bipartisan basis to tackle economic inequality and build an economy that supports the needs of all Americans, especially low-income and disadvantaged people. The four areas include 1) helping low-income Americans build wealth through long-term savings and investment by expanding access to proven wealth-building vehicles like the federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), 2) the benefits of a dynamic economy for worker mobility and well-being, including by restricting the use of non-compete agreements, 3) ensuring a strong recovery and tight labor market for low-income workers, and 4) addressing the challenge of spatial inequality.
“Boosting incomes, wealth, and well-being for Americans at the bottom is a worthy policy goal that Congress should tackle from a number of complementary directions,” said Mr. Lettieri in his written testimony. “While much of the debate over inequality remains contentious, I believe these four areas provide an opportunity for Congress to work on a broad, bipartisan basis.”
The testimony previews a paper, soon to be published by EIG, that outlines a proposal to incentivize low- and middle-income American workers to build long-term savings and investments, one of the central reasons for the persistent lack of wealth at the bottom. The paper makes the case for expanding access to a program like the federal TSP to tens of millions of low- and moderate-income Americans who currently do not participate in an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan.
The hearing will take place at 11:00 am ET and will be live-streamed. Mr. Lettieri’s written testimony can be found here. Additional witnesses include Ms. Jennifer Bates, Amazon Worker Bessemer, Alabama Fulfillment Center, Dr. Scott Winship, Resident Scholar and Director of Poverty Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Ms. Sarah Anderson, Global Economy Program Director at the Institute for Policy Studies, and The Honorable Robert B. Reich, Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.
EIG media contact: [email protected]
About the Economic Innovation Group (EIG)
The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) is an ideas laboratory and advocacy organization whose mission is to advance solutions that empower entrepreneurs and investors to forge a more dynamic American economy. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. and led by an experienced, bipartisan team, EIG convenes leading experts from the public and private sectors, develops original policy research, and works to advance creative legislative proposals that will bring new jobs, investment, and economic growth to communities across the nation. For more information, visit eig.org.
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