Sherrod Brown

Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown doesn’t get the attention that Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders do, but he is one of the Senate’s great champions of working people—and he’s doing that from the swing state of Ohio. Brown is out with a new plan to "restore the value of work in America," kind of a greatest hits collection of economic policies we know will help people … if Republicans would ever stop blocking them.

1. Raise workers’ wages and benefits: Raise the federal minimum wage to $15.

Pay overtime to executive, administrative, and professional workers making less than $47,476.

Make sure workers are able to earn up to seven paid sick days.

Establish 12-weeks of paid family and medical leave through a national paid leave fund. 2. Give workers more power in the workplace: Provide workers in key service sectors with advanced notice of their schedules.

Expand collective bargaining rights to give workers a stronger voice in the workplace.

Redefine what it means to be an independent contractor by preventing large employers from using the independent contractor classification to get around labor laws and boost profits. Specifically, require employers with more than 500 independent contractors and $7.5 million in annual receipts to pay employer payroll taxes for independent contractors.

Crack down on wage theft. Wage theft can take many forms, including: forcing people to work off the clock, refusing to pay workers the minimum wage, denying workers overtime pay even after working more than 40 hours a week, stealing workers’ tips, or knowingly misclassifying workers to avoid paying fair wages.

Fight back against employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying taxes and fair wages by strengthening IRS enforcement authority. 3. Make it possible for more workers to save for retirement: Expand access to retirement programs for part-time workers, low-wage workers, and small business owners.

Create better retirement savings opportunities for independent contractors.

Give workers a tax credit to match their retirement contributions. 4. Encourage companies to invest in their workforces: Require corporate freeloaders to reimburse taxpayers when their employees have to rely on federal assistance programs because their wages are too low.

Give companies a tax break when they commit to staying in the U.S., hiring in the U.S., and providing good wages and fair benefits for their workers.

Gosh, higher wages, protecting workers from having their wages stolen by employers, paid leave, a secure retirement … this kind of crazy talk is what all Democrats should be running on.