BRUNSWICK, Maine — Maine’s independent senator has joined with Democrats on a proposal to stop large corporations from avoiding federal taxes.

Sen. Angus King is working with Democrats including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon on the proposal. The senators said the legislation would establish a new corporate minimum tax that would be more fair.

King said the decline in corporate taxes has contributed to the nation’s rising debt. Corporations payed about 4% of the nation’s gross domestic product in state and federal income tax in 1965 and the rate is down to 1% now, he said.

The proposal would make certain that companies that report more than $1 billion in profits to shareholders pay at least a 15% tax rate on those profits, King said. He said corporations “should not be able to access America’s wealthy consumer market, talented labor pool, and other benefits without paying to support the conditions that make the U.S. the world’s premier place to do business.”