Booker releases plan to expand economic opportunity for ‘every community’

White House hopeful Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) unveiled on Wednesday a wide-ranging plan to expand economic opportunity to “every community” in America. 

“No one should have to leave their home to find economic opportunity in America. As mayor of Newark during the Great Recession, I saw a city in crisis, and felt the pain of residents when small businesses closed and people moved away,” said Booker. 

{mosads}“And now as communities around the country face similar problems — decades of lost wealth, disinvestment, and a playing field tilted away from local businesses — I’m going to bring this same determination as president to ensure every community is a place where there is economic opportunity.”

Booker’s plan calls for the launching of the “City 2030 Project,” which would initiate a national competition to help identify at least 50 small- and medium-sized cities for “major investment” from multiple federal agencies to ensure that “vibrant regional economic hubs bring jobs and opportunity to local residents and surrounding communities.”

The New Jersey Democrat would also work to codify legislation sitting in Congress that would ensure that a major share of federal dollars go to communities in “deep and persistent poverty,” invest $2 trillion in expanding rural transportation and create the Community Justice Fund to restore wealth in historically marginalized communities. 

The plan also calls for expanding competition and buoying small businesses by toughening rules on mergers, strengthening penalties for corporations that engage in anti-competitive practices, loosen regulations to allow state and local governments to crack down on “abusive concentrations” and invest $1.5 billion to expand access to capital in underserved communities, particularly among women and minority entrepreneurs.

Several other Democrats running for president in 2020 have introduced plans that would eliminate income and wealth inequities as an increasingly activist base demands policies that would rein in corporations’ power. 

Booker, long seen as a rising star within the Democratic Party, has plateaued near the middle tier of the crowded 2020 primary field in both fundraising and polling. He has not yet qualified for next month’s debate.