As Governor, Senator Manchin worked with the West Virginia State Legislature to lower taxes for businesses and residents alike, while also enhancing West Virginia’s business profile by fixing the workers’ comp system, improving the state’s credit ratings and getting the state’s financial house in order. Now, as United States Senator, he remains committed to enhancing our job climate so West Virginians have good paying jobs.

As a small businessman, Senator Manchin believes that to create a thriving economy and jobs we must support innovation and ensure commonsense regulatory policies. Bureaucrats should not be able to regulate what has not been legislated. We need to make government work smarter, and its agencies operate more efficiently and effectively. We’re not asking government to be our provider; we want government to be our partner.

To that end, Senator Manchin has fought diligently against EPA regulations that have had a devastating impact on jobs, energy prices, the reliability of our power supply, our coal mining industry and most importantly our families in West Virginia and across this nation. His first piece of legislation in the U.S. Senate, the EPA Fair Play Act, focused on reining in the EPA following its wrong-headed decision to revoke a permit for the Spruce Mine in West Virginia after that permit was already granted and people were going to work. Since then, Senator Manchin has introduced or cosponsored 18 pieces of legislation aimed at protecting our nation’s coal industry.

Senator Manchin believes that developing a balanced national energy policy will spur job creation all over this great nation. We must develop a national energy plan that uses all of America’s vast domestic resources. Senator Manchin believes that by using all the domestic resources we have and employing new technologies, America can once and for all become energy independent while also creating good-paying American jobs.

A champion for small businesses, Senator Manchin has also been an outspoken supporter of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an agency that supports more than 205,000 American jobs. The Bank plays a vital role in keeping our economy competitive and strong by providing loans, guarantees, and insurance services to help U.S. companies sell their products internationally. Since 2009, the Bank worked with 13 small businesses in West Virginia, providing $32 million in loans to support $135 million in exports. That’s why Senator Manchin introduced legislation to reauthorize the Bank's charter and help our business community grow and prosper overseas.

Senator Manchin has also fought diligently to protect American jobs when it comes to trade policy. He has voted against every trade deal legislation so far, and will continue to vote against trade deal legislation that cripples our manufacturing sector and leave thousands of hard-working Americans without jobs. Most recently, Senator Manchin voted against harmful Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation granting President Obama fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements.

Senator Manchin has also introduced legislation that will help Washington stay laser-focused on job creation. The Jobs Score Act would require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to determine the number of jobs that would be created, protected, or lost should a specific piece of legislation become law. This bill will make debates about jobs more transparent and concrete, giving lawmakers a solid basis of information for decision-making. He also voted in support of the Bring Jobs Home Act, which closes a tax loophole that rewards companies for shipping jobs overseas and creates incentives for companies to bring outsourced jobs back to America.

Senator Manchin was also proud to be the lead Democratic in the successful effort to repeal the 1099 mandate of the Affordable Care Act. The provision would have required businesses, charities and churches to file an IRS form for any transaction greater than $600, which undoubtedly would have created a heavy burden for small businesses, cost jobs, and hurt the overall economy.