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Job Creation and Economic Recovery Top State Priority List

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A Column from Senator Pat Kreitlow

Job Creation and Economic Recovery Top State Priority List

While America’s economy has shown some promising signs of recovery recently, everyone agrees that we won’t be out of the woods until we see substantial job growth. The key to job creation is finding the best way to encourage the private sector investment that’s necessary to create jobs. We can do that through targeted investments that help businesses create jobs by maintaining the infrastructure that businesses rely on every day, increasing assistance to schools and local services that makes communities strong, investing in research and development, and by making changes to our regulatory and tax codes that have limited economic growth and job creation.

That’s a tall order, and it’s not something that can be done with any single program or action. The key is to understand there are several ways where we can take specific actions that enhance job creation, from the most basic services to the most advanced manufacturing that creates products in high demand. I’ve been working with legislators from all over the state and both sides of the aisle to promote ideas that encourage the private investment needed to create jobs and to get the economy moving again.

From a broad standpoint, state government can play a role through targeted credits that promote investment in promising businesses and worker education. That’s the heart of the CORE Jobs Plan that I recently introduced along with lead author Julie Lassa, my State Senate colleague from Stevens Point. We have seen the proven power of angel investment tax credits, the Wisconsin Development Fund and the enterprise zone incentives that, for example, created more than 500 high tech jobs in the Chippewa Valley from 2004 to 2008. The CORE Jobs Plan includes tax credits for businesses that help pay their workers’ tuition for skills that help a business improve its products and systems and be more competitive. It also supports public-private partnerships between small businesses and UW campuses like Eau Claire and Stout.

A specific issue that has played a major role in the economic downturn is the high cost and dwindling supply of traditional energy sources, which is why another key to our economic recovery is changing our state and national energy focus to renewable, homegrown energy sources, including biofuels. Here in Wisconsin, we’ve already begun to embrace the emerging biofuel industry and the jobs it will create. Thanks to a strong agricultural community and some creative entrepreneurs and researchers, both UW-Stevens Point and the Chippewa Valley Technical College are already creating programs to train workers in related fields. Rep. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) and I have worked together on legislation that will give the Wisconsin renewable fuel industry the tools they need to take the industry to the next level in our state: making grant money and tax credits more accessible, cutting down on regulatory red tape and setting realistic goals for biofuel production and use.

There is no single issue tied more directly to this economic crisis than the rising cost of health care, and that goes for the employers trying to keep their businesses open as well as the working families trying to pay their bills. That’s why Rep. Kristen Dexter (D-Eau Claire) and I have introduced legislation that would make contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) tax deductible. Unlike similar legislation that has failed in the past, our plan targets this tax cut to the middle class workers who need it the most. It’s our hope that this benefit not only helps workers who are currently enrolled in HSAs, but also encourages more employers to consider making cost effective plans like HSA’s available.

Budget and policies in tough economic times aren’t just about making cuts that can be reckless and counterproductive. There have to be smart, targeted, investments designed to put our state in a position to emerge from a recession stronger than its neighbors, attractive to families and entrepreneurs alike. We’re doing that in Wisconsin, doing our part to not just get back on our feet but to stand tall for years to come.