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Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., introduced legislation Friday modeled after the estate tax bill sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The For the 99.8% Act would impose a tax on estates worth over $3.5 million. Under the For the 99.8% Act, the families of 588 billionaires would owe up to $2.2 trillion in estate taxes. Under current law, the estate tax only applies to estates above 11.4 million at a rate of 40 percent. Sanders introduced the bill in the Senate in January. It would establish a new progressive estate tax rate structure, with a rate of 45percent on the value of an estate between $3.5 million and $10 million, 50 percent for the value of an estate between $10 million and $50 million, 55 percent for the value of an estate in excess of $50 million, and 77 percent for the value of an estate in excess of $1 billion… “The ever-widening gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of us has reached alarming proportions and demands a strong legislative response,” Gomez said in a statement. “No longer can we allow this structural power imbalance — one where the billionaire-class hoards the very wealth working families helped to create — define our nation’s values and priorities.”… I am proud that Representative Gomez is leading three dozen members of the House in introducing the For The 99.8% Act to tax today’s dynasty trusts and curb their power, while raising trillions of dollars for the essential programs we need as a country.”

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