Watch out, Amazon. Bernie Sanders has you in his sights. And if his efforts come to fruition, you'll be paying higher taxes—but you won't be alone.

Why? The behemoth is among the top employers whose employees are on food stamps in at least five states, according to Business Insider, which cites nonprofit New Food Economy data from Arizona, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington reporting on the numbers of company workers who receive SNAP benefits—and in four of those states Amazon workers are in the top 20.

In Arizona, it appears that one out of every three Amazon employees, or someone they live with, is on food stamps—1,800 people—and in Pennsylvania and Ohio, it's one in 10. Because of the way data were reported from the states that responded to New Food Economy, it can be difficult to provide exact figures. But, the report says, that's more than 1,000 Pennsylvanians and 1,430 Ohio Amazon workers and/or family members. And according to a separate study by Policy Matters Ohio, about 10 percent of all the employees Amazon has in Ohio are on food stamps.

The irony is, according to New Food Economy, that Amazon will be able to accept SNAP benefits later this year in payment for grocery orders.

Amazon shares this dubious honor—that of the most employees on food stamps—with such other giants as McDonald's and Walmart. And the Business Insider report quotes an Amazon spokesperson's statement to the Washington Post that the numbers were “misleading because they include people who only worked for Amazon for a short period of time and/or who chose to work part-time. We have hundreds of full-time roles available, however, some prefer part-time for the flexibility or other personal reasons.”

An Amazon spokesperson also told Business Insider, “We encourage anyone to compare our pay and benefits to other retailers. Amazon is proud to have created over 130,000 new jobs last year alone. These are good jobs with highly competitive pay and full benefits. In the U.S., the average hourly wage for a full-time associate in our fulfillment centers, including cash, stock, and incentive bonuses, is over $15/hour before overtime.”

The spokesman added, “That's in addition to our full benefits package that includes health, vision and dental insurance, retirement, generous parental leave, and skills training for in-demand jobs through our Career Choice program, which has over 16,000 participants.”

Says the New Food Economy report, “Though [Amazon] now employs 200,000 people in the United States, many of its workers are not making enough money to put food on the table.”

But Senator Bernie Sanders, I-VT, intends to do something about large companies with large numbers of workers on public assistance. He plans to introduce legislation on September 5 that would impose a 100 percent tax on public benefits received by workers at companies with more than 500 employees. That way, employees receiving food stamps, public housing, Medicaid and other federal assistance would end up being covered for that aid by their employer. If an employee received $100 in food stamp benefits, for example, the employer would be taxed 100 percent of that $100.

The Washington Post says the goal, according to Sanders, is to compel companies to pay a living wage and thereby offset the approximately $150 billion in taxpayer money that goes annually to pay for federal assistance for those workers making low wages.

Instant Insights /

Amazon employees at or near top of food stamp lists in at least five states

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