More than 170,000 Minnesotans are without a job today, and many more are underemployed or have given up looking for a job.
Minnesota is in very serious financial trouble. The next governor will face an unprecedented budget deficit. We cannot raise taxes enough or cut spending enough to get Minnesota and its citizens out of this situation. If we want money to invest in the things Minnesotans value, such as education and health care, the next governor must make putting people back to work the top priority. Minnesota needs a leader who will be dedicated to putting people back to work -- a 24/7 governor who will go anywhere, anytime, in order to create living wage jobs.
As a carpenter who was out of work during the 1981-82 recession, and who ran out of unemployment and health insurance for my young family, I know the importance of having a paycheck on Friday to take care of a family's needs. I know what it means to be unemployed and what people touched by this recession are going through. We must turn this around.
Being a carpenter means being a problem-solver. I'm proud of my common-sense approach at the Capitol. As a legislator and as chair of the Senate Tax Committee, I know what tools we need to create jobs so citizens and businesses can prosper, such as a significant public-works bill. We must leverage the state's bonding capacity to spur construction jobs, update our higher-education institutions and accelerate maintenance on wastewater-treatment facilities to improve our water and environment. This is a tool we should not wait to use, and I am requesting the governor to call a special session to pass a bonding bill before the end of the year.
However, bonding dollars alone provide only limited short-term economic stimulus. We must create a loan guarantee fund that leverages needed capital to build the projected $2 billion to $3 billion worth of shovel-ready projects that are currently idled because of the lack of financing. A partial loan guarantee gives local banks the incentive to begin lending again.
We need a sustainable job creation strategy that helps small businesses -- which create the majority of the jobs -- grow jobs and generate more revenues for the future growth of our state.
The biggest impediment to job growth in our economy is the lack of capital available to businesses both large and small. We need incentives for those who can -- and have the financial means to -- invest in Minnesota businesses and keep those dollars working in Minnesota, not somewhere else.
My long-term job creation and economic growth strategy includes: