Trade, Jobs, & the Economy

 Trade, Jobs, & the Economy

• Protecting American Jobs

Plant closings and job losses are too common in our state. I know what these losses add up to in the small towns of North Carolina -- they add up to double-digit unemployment and people unable to find work after a year or more.

This Administration has done a woeful job of standing up for American workers.  Free trade means nothing if it is not fair trade.

North Carolina producers need more open markets for their products, and we need to ensure our competitiveness by leveling the international playing field on trade to create long-term stability and economic growth.  I am committed to fighting for American workers and manufacturers and to creating jobs and growth.  I will continue to vote against any trade proposal that is unfair to North Carolina workers, and will standby our companies when they are struggling. 

• Expanding the Economy & Creating Jobs

 Over the past few years, small businesses have lost out on opportunities when contracts intended for them were awarded to large corporations.  Though the federal marketplace continues to grow at record rates, small businesses’ contracting opportunities are dwindling. For the past six years, the federal government has failed to meet its 23 percent contracting goal – costing small businesses nearly $4.5 billion in lost contracting opportunity last year alone.   Small firms also face challenges as the government continues to combine work into contracts that are too large for entrepreneurs to bid on, making the work less accessible to small businesses.  These factors have all resulted in lost contracting opportunities for this nation’s small firms.  

• Make “contract bundling”—the practice of grouping small government contracts together and awarding them as one large contract—more difficult by forcing government agencies to justify why they have bundled contracts in the first place
• Require the Small Business Administration to reach out to small businesses regarding opportunities for earning government contracts
• Raise the federal small business government-wide contracting goal from 23 to 30 percent, and includes new provisions to fight fraud in the contracting process
• Expand contracting opportunities for small businesses by opening up opportunities overseas and increasing enforcement on subcontracting goals
• Require the Small Business Administration to keep small businesses informed about the opportunities to compete for government contracts
• Mandate stricter oversight of government agencies to ensure that these agencies are making progress toward awarding contracts to small businesses

• Increasing the Minimum Wage

Last July I voted to raise the federal minimum wage by $2.10.  The increase, which be will be completely phased in by 2010, is the first minimum wage increase almost 10 years.  This increase is long overdue.  The minimum wage, which until this year was only $5.10 and is currently only $5.85, is simply not enough to cover the needs of the average family as they struggle with increasing costs of child care, education, health insurance, and gasoline prices. The value of the minimum wage has dropped to its lowest level in over half a century.

Raising the minimum wage will mean a $4,400 yearly pay raise—money that could pay for 15 months of groceries, or more than two years of health care.  It could buy 19 months of utilities, 20 months of child care, or 30 months of college tuition at a public, 2-year college.Over the next two years, as the legislation takes effect, the minimum wage will increase from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 per hour. Thanks to this increase, by 2010 a family of four will move from 11 percent below the poverty line to 5 percent above the poverty line. Nearly 13 million people will benefit from the increase. 

• Economic Stimulus

On February 8th, I voted to pass H.R. 5140, the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus Act. This bill will inject nearly $152 billion into the economy this year and more than $16 billion next year by providing one-time tax rebates of up to $600 for individuals or $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child. 

Under H.R. 5140, people earning up to $75,000 a year, and couples earning up to $150,000, will be eligible for full rebates.  Those who earn more will be eligible to receive smaller checks.  In addition, the bill will assist lower-income Americans, including retirees on Social Security and disabled veterans who pay no income taxes, by making them eligible for rebates of up to $300. 

The rebates will be calculated based on 2007 federal income tax returns, which are due April 15, and rebate checks will be mailed in May. 

In addition to tax rebates, the bill will help some of the roughly two million Americans in jeopardy of losing their homes to foreclosure by temporarily raising both the limit on Federal Housing Administration loans and the cap on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy to $729,750.  This will allow tens of thousands of homeowners to refinance unsustainable predatory mortgages into more sustainable, fixed rate mortgages.

The economic stimulus plan is not perfect.  As enacted, it does not include some important benefits that I support like unemployment assistance and funding for low-income Americans who cannot afford their energy bills. Nonetheless, by providing cash to consumers and targeted tax relief to businesses seeking to invest in job growth, the stimulus bill will be an important step in relieving some of mounting pressure on American taxpayers and our nation’s economy.

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