Issue Position: Economy and Jobs

Issue Position

As the son of small business owners, Jim McGovern knows that small business is the backbone of America's economy. Jim grew up working in his parent's package store in Worcester, so he knows what it takes to help businesses grow.

Jim has been a strong supporter of 8 separate tax cuts for small businesses in the last two years alone. These tax cuts included a payroll tax holiday for businesses that hire unemployed workers; doubling the amount that small businesses can immediately write off their taxes for capital investments and purchases of new equipment; reducing capital gains taxes for investors in small businesses; and tax credits for small businesses to help them offer employee health insurance coverage.

In addition, Jim voted to increase access to capital for small and medium-sized banks who want to make loans to small businesses.

Jim has also been a strong supporter of ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

During these difficult economic times, Jim believes that we should extend the tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 per year. Now is not the time to raise taxes on middle-class families.

Jim believes that Massachusetts is uniquely poised to create the jobs of the future. With our outstanding educational system and our well-trained workforce, Massachusetts can become the world leader in areas like medical devices and bio-technology and "green jobs" in areas like solar, wind, biomass and marine power.

For example, Jim played a key role in developing the Gateway Park project in Worcester. This project is a collaboration between federal, state and city officials; the Worcester education community; and private businesses to develop a state-of-the-art medical research facility in Worcester. Thanks to these efforts, there are hundreds of new jobs in Worcester -- people working to create the cures of the future.

Jim has also worked to support dozens of small companies throughout the Third District. Companies like IQUUM in Marlborough, which is researching rapid responses to pandemic influenza, and Liberating Technologies in Holliston, which is on the cutting-edge of developing prosthetics for wounded soldiers and others.

Jim has made manufacturing a key priority of his economic development agenda. While some may argue that manufacturing in Massachusetts is gone forever, Jim strongly disagrees. American manufacturing directly employs 14 million Americans and creates 8 million additional jobs in other sectors. That's why Jim has been a strong supporter of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which assists small and medium-sized businesses in our community with identifying and adopting new technologies to ensure that they remain competitive.

Finally, Jim McGovern has strongly supported education in Massachusetts, including higher education, so that we can train the workforce of the 21st Century; and modernizing our infrastructure so that businesses have the ability to locate and grow in Massachusetts.

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