Cincinnati Business Courier - "Portman: Congress Needs to Work Together to Bring Jobs to Ohio"

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By Jamie Smith

I have to say I wasn't jumping with excitement when I got the call from Raye Allen, director of major gifts and leadership giving at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati regarding an invitation to the First Tuesday luncheon with U.S. Sen.Rob Portman.

Portman was in town to address 300 plus Tocqueville members over lunch at the Tocqueville Society of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. However, as the publisher I felt I needed to open my mind up and hear more about what our government is or isn't doing for us. So I went to lunch not expecting to be wowed or impressed.

So I kept an open mind and mingled with several of Cincinnati's top business leaders and then sat in the crowd waiting to form an opinion.

Portman keyed in on six elements and his opinion on each:

* Tax codes -- Reform the current tax codes so they work with our economy and not against forcing more and more companies out of the country. He welcomed members to go online and offer suggestions. He said more than 2,000 suggestions already have poured in though the web. He suggested that Canada has reduced corporate tax rate and have seen the number of new businesses increase. Eliminating tax preferences and lowering tax rates will make our country more competitive, will allow businesses to create more jobs and ensure a tax code that's fair for everyone, not just those who can manipulate it.

* Regulations -- His opinion is we need to address them and do away with many of them. He commented on the fact that Fidelity based in Northern Kentucky has said many of these new regulations are too burdensome and makes it too hard for them and ultimately will cause them to cut jobs. He commented on an Adams County sawmill that is closing down one of their operations due to new regulations on sawdust. He reminded attendees that the Dodd-Frank Act brought over 500 new regulations to the banking industry. Let's separate the necessary regulations from those that kill jobs, and insist agencies use the least burdensome alternative, he said.

* More competitive workforce -- he cited Cincinnati State and the University of Cincinnati for helping get Cincinnatians more prepared. However, there are more than 44 different federal employment and training programs that are carried out by nine different agencies. We should modernize these programs to fit the private sector need, he said.

* Exports -- We have had three export agreements on the books waiting approval for over 2-and-a-half years. Export business means new jobs. We have to get back to our past success with the export business. We should get serious about expanding exports and adding jobs.

* Health care -- These costs have to come down, while he wouldn't go into details on the last health care reform he did say it caused health care cost to increase. Reducing health care costs and adding jobs by expanding choices and putting consumers in charge, through expanding health savings accounts, allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines, and getting a handle on frivolous lawsuits and reducing regulatory barriers to medical innovation.

* Lastly he hit on energy. It's time to focus on energy production here at home, and we have lots of opportunities, including new discoveries of oil and natural gas in states like Ohio that could help create thousands of new jobs. The plan must also include energy efficiency and our own renewable sources of energy. Washington shouldn't pick winners and losers, but we can remove the government barriers to energy exploration and production.

His plea to Washington is "let's look at reality, the Republicans and Democrats have to work together. If we do that, we will bring jobs back to both the U.S. and Ohio.

I walked away from this lunch feeling a little more energetic, having a little more hope, and feeling like someone in Washington is fighting for our local business. I know one man can't make all these things happen in Washington, D.C., but I sure feel better knowing that Rob Portman is the man trying to lead the cause for us. Hats off to the Tocqueville Society for hosting the largest gathering of the First Tuesday lunches of any United Way and for bringing Senator Portman's message to our business leaders.

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