Where does Tom Steyer stand on the issues?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tom Steyer, the progressive businessman and environmentalist, is one of two billionaires making a run for the 2020 Democratic nomination — and he's making some progress in the polls.
Steyer, who has said he's willing to spend $1 billion on his campaign, has blanketed early-voting Nevada and South Carolina with ads, as well as many Super Tuesday states. That strategy appears to be paying off as Steyer placed second in a recent Fox News poll in South Carolina with 15 percent, and third in another Fox News poll in Nevada at 12 percent.
Here is where Steyer stands on some of the top issues voters care about in the 2020 campaign.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Health care
Steyer takes a more restrained position on health care than some of his fellow candidates who advocate "Medicare-for-All" to the exclusion of any form of private health insurance.
Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer speaks to reporters before hosting a town hall in Henderson, Nev., on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Michelle L. Price)
WHERE DOES ELIZABETH WARREN STAND ON THE ISSUES?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He proposes a government-run "public option" which would compete against private insurance with the goal of reducing costs across the marketplace. This is similar to the public option former President Barack Obama pushed to include in the Affordable Care Act but did not have the votes to get through the Senate.
Steyer, like many of his fellow Democrats, has said he would cover illegal immigrants under any government-run health care plan, according to The Washington Post.
"Unfortunately, we have a broken immigration system," Steyer told the Post in response to a questionnaire from The Post. "We have people living here, contributing to society, but are forced to live in the shadows. Until we fix our immigration system, undocumented workers should have access to the health services that they require.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Climate and environment
Climate change is probably the issue most in Steyer's wheelhouse, as his past advocacy has focused largely on climate policy. He has voiced support for the Green New Deal resolution advanced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and his "Justice-Centered Climate Plan" includes some of the social justice elements featured in the Green New Deal resolution.
WHERE DOES BERNIE SANDERS STAND ON THE ISSUES?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"On day one of my presidency, I will declare the climate crisis a national emergency," Steyer says on his website.
Steyer estimates his climate plan would cost $2.3 trillion, according to Politico. That's higher than former Vice President Joe Biden's $1.7 trillion plan and less than the $3 trillion plan proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. But Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would spend far more combating climate change than all of his competitors, with his $16 trillion proposal.
Steyer's 2045 target date for bringing the U.S. to net-zero carbon emissions is earlier than many of the Democratic contenders' goals of 2050. But the billionaire takes a more moderate position on fracking, a controversial method of extracting natural gas from underground, by saying he would not ban the practice outright.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Economy and minimum wage
Income inequality has become a forefront issue in the Democratic primary, with many candidates proposing a rollback of the tax cut President Trump signed into law in 2017 which would increase corporate income tax rates from 21 percent to 35 percent, the level they were at before the 2017 law.
Steyer has not taken a particular stance on corporate income tax levels, but he does support a wealth tax, just as Sanders and Warren do.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WHERE DOES PETE BUTTIGIEG STAND ON THE ISSUES?
Steyer's wealth tax would levy 1 percent of the wealth of individuals with a net worth of $32 million or higher. That level increases to 1.5 percent on net worths above $500 million. Billionaires would pay 2 percent of their net worth to the government per year.
Steyer's wealth tax plan is tame compared to Warren's. She would hit families worth over $1 billion for 6 percent of their wealth each year to fund her health care plan while also fixing a 2 percent levy on all families worth over $50 million.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There are questions not just about the effectiveness of a wealth tax, however, but also its constitutionality.
"The Constitution does not specifically empower Congress to adopt a wealth or asset tax (as with the Sixteenth Amendment), an asset tax cannot be 'equally apportioned' (by definition, it takes only from the better off), and possessing wealth or assets is not, by definition, a 'transaction' (any more than owning a home is)," Heritage Foundation Research Associate Joel Griffith wrote for Fox News last year. "In fact, seizing this private property without just compensation would clearly violate the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause."
While his tax proposals are sometimes less ambitious than the other candidates', Steyer one-upped the field on a different issue during a Feb. 9 campaign stop, saying he might support a $22 minimum wage -- most Democrats have pushed for a $15 federal minimum wage. He has previously said he is for that $15 minimum wage and his website also mentions a $15 minimum wage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Immigration
Steyer has been sharply critical of Trump's immigration policies, like much of the Democratic field.
"Not only is Trump encouraging terrorist violence against the immigrants, he is using the government to cage, torture, and terrify our neighbors. Where is our humanity?" he tweeted in August.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WHERE DOES JOE BIDEN STAND ON THE ISSUES?
He opposes any form of border wall and would decriminalize illegal border crossings, a position he shares with Warren and Sanders but not Biden.
Like every other Democratic candidate, Steyer would also create a pathway to citizenship for those currently in the United States illegally.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Criminal justice
Though Steyer has not made it a centerpiece issue in his campaign, he did tell the Las Vegas Sun last August that he is for federally legalized marijuana. He specifically brought up how the fact the drug remains illegal at the federal level makes it difficult or impossible for banks to work with marijuana businesses that are legal in their own states.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I know that because my wife and I started a community bank that is dedicated to the idea of economic justice, environmental sustainability (and) women- and minority-owned businesses," he told the paper. "We know that for us to actually finance marijuana businesses would mean that we would lose the support of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation."
Steyer is opposed to the death penalty, like most of the Democratic field. The Trump administration has tried to resume federal executions despite legal hurdles.
On voting rights for felons, Steyer takes a relatively moderate stance compared to the rest of the Democratic field. While some candidates support allowing felons to vote from behind bars, Steyer simply would restore their voting rights once they get out of prison.