Tom Steyer is a hedge funder manager and major donor to Democratic politicians and progressive causes. The 2020 campaign is his first time running for elected office.
Previous Work Around Poverty and Opportunity
- Steyer founded the Beneficial State Bank, a community development bank targeted towards underserved businesses, nonprofits, and individuals in the Bay Area
- Steyer and his wife have signed the Giving Pledge, committing to give away at least half of their assets to charitable causes during their lifetime.
On the Issues
Jobs: Has prioritized addressing climate change in his investments and proposes a Justice-Centered Climate Plan and a Civilian Climate Corps that he estimates would create over 45 million jobs over ten years.
Affordable Housing: Wants to improve and increase the supply of affordable housing in order to fight homelessness, build family wealth, and develop climate smart communities.
Healthcare/Insurance: Proposes to create a public option for health insurance with the federal government negotiating the payrates. Healthcare providers would need to participate in order to be able to receive Medicare reimbursements.
Education: Wants to address disparities in achievement through reforms including tripling the funding for Title I schools.
Criminal Justice: Among his criminal justice priorities are reducing the amount of young people entering the prison system, ending cash bail, and eliminating mandatory minimums.
Minimum Wage: Supports a $15 an hour minimum wage and recently suggested targeting a new $22 minimum.
Safety Net: Has not released concrete plans, but has promised to protect Social Security and has voiced support for raising the cap on income contributions.
Children/Families: Supported paid family leave legislation in California and wants to federally institute at least six months of paid leave for all workers.
Taxes/Tax Credits: Wants to reduce taxes by 10% for families making less than $250,000 while instituting a tax on wealth in excess of $32 million that would raise $1.7 trillion over ten years.
News Articles
Tom Steyer: Who he is and what he stands for (New York Times: 2/24/2020)
Tom Steyer wants to challenge Trump on the economy (South Carolina Now: 1/18/2020)
What does Tom Steyer believe? (PBS: 7/10/2019)
Tom Steyer’s presidential campaign, explained (Vox: 8/9/2019)