September 18, 2014 - Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the CEO-Employee Pay Fairness Act, introduced by Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen, which would limit executive pay tax breaks for CEOs that fail to raise wages for workers:

“Middle class American workers drive our economy with their labor; their productivity is the engine of our prosperity and our corporations’ success.  Yet, even as productivity has surged and CEO compensation has skyrocketed, too many of our workers have been overlooked, undervalued, and underpaid.

“We need an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy and well connected.  It is unconscionable that CEOs get tax breaks for unlimited, enormous bonuses even as hardworking middle class workers’ wages remain stagnant.  The CEO-Employee Pay Fairness Act, a key component of our Middle Class Jumpstart agenda, will incentivize corporations to deliver the wages that workers deserve before they fully write-off their millionaire CEOs’ pay.

“Now is the time to put the middle class first.  While Republicans protect tax breaks for millionaires and corporations shipping jobs overseas, Democrats will be working to jumpstart the middle class and create good-paying jobs for American workers right here at home”