Issue Position: Economic Recovery

Issue Position

Florida has been hit hard by a rise in foreclosures, unemployment, and recent natural disasters, resulting in a crippling budget crisis.

As your congresswoman, I am focused on the individuals hurt by this recession: the families who are struggling to make ends meet, the men and women who are fighting to keep their jobs, and the small business owners that are desperate to keep their companies functioning. These are the faces of our community and they need help. Inaction is not an option and the stakes are too high for ideological games.

That is why we passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This tax relief and recovery package means two things: lower taxes and more jobs.

The bill will provide 95% of working families with a tax cut of up to $800 dollars. Small businesses will get tax incentives to promote investment and job creation. Florida's seniors and disabled veterans will receive an immediate tax rebate of $250. And alternative energy tax credits will spur our economy, protect our environment, and increase national security.

The act protects millions of families from having to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax, helps students and parents struggling to pay for higher education, and gives tax relief to those who want to buy a home or purchase a car.

But tax cuts alone will not get our economy back on track. In 2008, Florida suffered the second worst loss of jobs of any state with more than 255,000 jobs cut. The tax relief and recovery package provides significant job-creating investments in Florida's infrastructure, such as our roads and bridges, public transit, clean water, and alternative energy. And it contains funding for job training and higher education to help those in our community who have lost jobs or need retraining and to keep our work force productive and competitive.

The tax relief and recovery package will also give our state critical funds to help fill the gap in Florida's education budget. This will help keep schools open and protect teacher jobs so that our children can get the education they need to compete in the 21st Century.

And the plan includes dedicated funding for NASA's human spaceflight. This funding will protect jobs at Kennedy Space Center and across our community by helping to minimize the gap between the Shuttle program and Constellation.

Together, these investments will create and protect thousands of jobs in the short-term while laying the groundwork for a long-term economic recovery.

While not a perfect bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act represents the change that Floridians demanded. It is a sign that we will not stand idly by while our families and communities suffer.

The tax relief and recovery package is an important first step on the road to revitalizing our economy.

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