Issue Position: Fostering Job Creation - Especially For Our Veterans

Issue Position

There is no more pressing issue this year than job creation. For State government, unemployment raises the cost of caring for those without income or healthcare and lowers the amount of revenue we can use to support those who cannot support themselves. But more importantly, it leaves many without hope, exacerbates social problems like drug and alcohol abuse, inhibits our economic growth, gives our citizens good reason to leave the State. People simply have to be able to support themselves and their families.

The government is not in the business of creating jobs. But we can certainly help new and growing Connecticut businesses to create jobs through tax credits and investment in job training. This is especially true for our veterans, and even more so by the fact that the troop draw-downs are returning our soldiers to civilian life more quickly than usual.

To address these problems I supported the STEP-UP program. It provides employers with funding for job training for up to 6 months for new employees, and additional benefits for those who create jobs and hire returning veterans. It gives businesses who normally could not afford to take a chance on hiring new workers the help they need to expand. It gives our unemployed, and especially our veterans, a reason to keep looking for work right here in Connecticut.

Source