Issue Position: Jobs and the Economy

Issue Position

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were experiencing the best job market and highest economic growth we had seen in decades. Americans were working, corporate taxes were globally competitive, burdensome regulation was being reduced, our 401k's were increasing, and we had a plan to balance the budget. I firmly believe we have the fundamentals in place for a strong economic recovery, but it will take a different approach to what we've seen with the current relief packages. I support the CARES Act and the Payment Protection Program, but I do not feel we took a strategic approach to the way we applied it. For example, there are industries largely unaffected by the need to work remotely, and other industries were forced to shut their doors entirely. By employing smarter, more proactive policies, we could have created a more tailored approach to better support those people and companies that needed it most.

I do not intend to be critical and play Monday-morning quarterback; I realize I've been able to watch this crisis unfold from the campaign trail. I simply want to point out that programs of this size cannot be effectively run at the federal level. We need to rely more on state and local stakeholders to properly implement them. Our small and rural businesses are the engine of our economy and we need to keep them top-of-mind when considering further economic policies.

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