My Jobs Plan
Nearly three years after the first stimulus bill passed, unemployment remains above ten percent in Florida and above nine percent nationwide. With more than 14 million Americans out of work, we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past. We need a new approach, one that recognizes that businesses and entrepreneurs – not federal government officials and bureaucrats – are the real job creators who can lead us into economic recovery and help put Americans back to work.
That is why today I introduced my new jobs bill, the Restore America Act, which will get Washington out of the way and lay the groundwork for real, private-sector job creation. We can’t expect local businesses to grow and hire new workers when Washington is repeatedly weighing them down with a broken tax code, unnecessary mandates, high energy costs, and uncertainty about what’s coming next. Instead, we in Congress need to knock down these roadblocks. We need to create an environment where people can afford to do business in America, where smart people with good ideas can follow their dreams and open their own small businesses, and where businesses large and small can grow and hire new workers.
My bill achieves these goals and helps put Americans back to work in four key steps: reform the tax code, get rid of unnecessary regulations, expand domestic energy production, and streamline federal job training programs.
We need to reform the tax code to make it fair, simple and competitive. My plan gets rid of corporate loopholes and deductions, and replaces them with across-the-board, permanent tax relief. A fairer tax code will help business grow and compete on a level playing field, and permanent tax relief will give them the certainty they need to invest in their companies and create new jobs.
By ending unnecessary, costly regulations that are destroying jobs, we can remove a critical obstacle facing small business owners. The Small Business Administration reports that businesses spend $1.75 trillion dollars and nearly 9 billion hours each year trying to comply with new regulations coming out of the federal government – those are resources that they should be using to grow and hire new workers. My plan stops the Administration from piling new, job-destroying mandates on our job creators by requiring Congressional approval of any new regulation with a significant economic impact.
Expanding American energy production would create jobs right away while reducing prices for families and businesses. We have tremendous energy resources in our country, and if we utilize them, we’ll see new jobs immediately in the energy sector. Producing American energy would drive down energy costs, helping both families and small businesses make ends meet.
Streamlining and coordinating federal job training programs, which right now are duplicative, uncoordinated and inefficient, will help ensure that when jobs are available, job-seekers have the skills and training they need. My plan directs Congress to streamline the 47 different federal job training programs we have now, and give more power and flexibility to state and local job training programs, so they better reflect the unique needs of our communities.
That’s my plan. Fix the tax code so that it’s fair, simple, and competitive. Get rid of unnecessary, costly mandates that are hurting businesses and jobs. Start producing American energy to create jobs right away while driving down prices. Improve job training programs so that workers have the knowledge and skills they need.
For more information about my plan, including a detailed summary and bill text, please visit my website. As I continue to work on this issue, please let know what you think of my proposal by taking the survey in this email and then sharing your thoughts on my website, facebook page or twitter account. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Congressman Tom Rooney
PS - The results of the latest survey on federal regulations are available here.