Tom Steyer Qualifies for Debate in December: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Tom Steyer became the seventh candidate to qualify for the Democratic debate on Dec. 19.To make the cut, candidates must obtain 4% in four Democratic National Committee-approved national polls or 6% in two DNC-approved early state polls and receive donations from 200,000 individuals. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren have all also qualified.The debate will be held in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University and is hosted by Politico and PBS NewsHour. Candidates have until Dec. 12 to qualify.Warren Proposes New Benefits for Part-Time Work (9:00 a.m.)Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would require companies to provide part-time workers with additional benefits and to adhere to “fair scheduling” laws.The plan, Warren’s latest geared at working class Americans, would mandate employers offer 12 months of paid family leave for part-time workers and, for some, retirement plans after 500 work hours in two consecutive years.The Massachusetts senator and 2020 Democratic contender also proposed barring companies with more than 500 workers from hiring new employees or contractors without first offering the additional work to existing part-time employees.Warren said the plan “will help shift power back to part-time workers” and facilitate “the kind of big, structural change we need to create an economy that works for everyone.” — Misyrlena EgkolfopoulouBooker Has $100 Billion Plan for Black Colleges (7:21 a.m.)Senator Cory Booker is calling for a $100 billion investment in historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.In addition to making the educational establishments more affordable, Booker’s plan focuses on bolstering science, technology, engineering and math programs. He calls for the Department of Education to offer $30 billion worth of grants to improve those departments and an additional $30 billion to upgrade infrastructure.Under his proposal to address climate change, 10% of “Moonshot Hubs” — Booker’s proposed laboratories devoted to researching ways to combat global warming — would be be based in historically black universities and colleges or other minority-serving institutions.One in five African Americans with bachelor’s degrees graduated from an HBCU. Last month Bernie Sanders outlined his plan for tuition-free HBCUs and Pete Buttigieg called for increasing funding for HBCUs by $50 billion. Warren, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have also released plans to increase funding for HBCUs. — Emma KineryCOMING UPBiden is on an eight-day, 18-county bus tour of Iowa through Saturday.Warren speaks at a DNC IWillVote Gala in Boston on Thursday.(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)–With assistance from Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou.To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Kinery in Washington at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at [email protected], Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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