Here in Southwest Washington, the need to restart our economy and grow jobs is as great as any other region in the country.
I went to Congress to help make job creation its number one priority. From the Gifford Pinchot Forest to Long Beach, our region has a reputation for our tremendous resources – but the greatest resource of all is our people. It’s time Congress focused on getting these folks to work.
Small business and private enterprise act as America’s engine for job creation, but right now these job creators are struggling to survive. We know that big-spending government programs, bailouts, federal regulations and new taxes haven’t helped. However, by supporting strategic and responsible initiatives, Congress can play a productive role in restarting Southwest Washington’s economy.
Reverse government overspending: The first step Congress can take to empower job creators is stop government’s disastrous habit of overspending. Right now, the federal government is borrowing too much money and accumulating tens of thousands of dollars of debt for every single American citizen. That level of spending continues to result in more and bigger tax burdens on small business.
By reversing the trend of overspending, we’d give businesses the freedom to leverage more of their capital, grow their operations, and hire people.
Reduce harmful and unnecessary regulations: Entrepreneurs and job creators rank overregulation as one of the biggest hurdles to building their business. Regulatory burdens cost businesses more than $1 trillion each year in this country.
For example: In 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court decided that every forest land owner must obtain new permits for forest roads on their land, undoing the 35-years of Clean Water Act protection of our nation’s streams and forests and adding a costly and unnecessary job-killing rule onto employers and business owners. Such a move would take the US Forest Service alone 10 years to obtain the 400,000 permits it would need for public lands – at the expense of the taxpayer. Private landowners would face the same magnitude of regulations. I led bipartisan legislation that solidified 35 years of Clean Water Act protection and eliminated this unnecessary regulation, protecting the 107,000 Washington state jobs supported by our forest products industry. This legislation was signed into law by President Obama as part of the Farm Bill on February 7, 2014.
When small businesses in our communities have to obtain federal permits, navigate complex rules and abide by federal regulations, it means companies must put much of their resources into administrative tasks rather than expanding or adding employees to the payroll.
I will continue working hard to reduce and eliminate unnecessary and burdensome regulations whenever possible. Small- and medium-sized businesses should spend their time expanding and creating jobs – not navigating a maze of government rules.
