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The Issues » Putting people back to work

Without question, we are facing one of the most severe recessions in our history.  Nowhere is this more apparent than in our unemployment statistics. Far too many folks in Pierce County have been laid off or live in fear of losing their job.

As a small business owner, I know that there are steps we can take to make it easier for our friends and neighbors to find a quality job. We need to be focusing on policies that help our citizens get back to work and drive our economic recovery.  Actions we should take to bring this about include:

• Not raising taxes.  The recent $800 million in tax increases passed by the Legislature will put more people out of work – hitting both our small business and our average citizen household budgets particularly hard.
• Enabling choice and competition in the workers’ compensation insurance market. Ending the state monopoly on workers’ compensation insurance—like 46 other states have done—will reduce costs on our struggling employers and help them to hire more people.
• A two-year moratorium on new regulations. Unless it is necessary to protect life and safety, we should stop adding new rules and regulations that slow our economy.
• Simplifying and streamlining the permitting process for construction and renovation projects.

These types of reasonable policies would help jump-start our economy and provide much needed jobs for our citizens!