Issue Position: Economy and Jobs

Issue Position

Maurice has always made job creation and economic growth the primary focus of his work in Congress. Traveling from community to community across New York's 22nd Congressional District, Maurice has heard from far too many residents who have either lost their jobs, seen their hours, pay, and benefits get cut, or are living in fear that they may be about to lose their job. In the midst of a difficult economic period that has caused hardship for so many New Yorkers, Maurice understands that we need targeted tax cuts for middle class families and small businesses along with investments in businesses and communities that will create jobs now and lay the groundwork for the growth of 21st century high tech, manufacturing businesses right here in our backyard.

While the economy was weakening, Maurice didn't sit on his hands and wait for others to act. He worked tirelessly to bring new high-tech, clean energy manufacturing firms to New York. His work has brought and continues to bring real results. Dozens of solar and high-tech manufacturing businesses are moving to our part of New York and creating hundreds of well-paying jobs.

From Precision Flow Technologies in the Town of Ulster where over 200 jobs have been created in just the last two years to build high-tech clean energy equipment to Primet Precision Materials in Ithaca where state-of-the art high-tech batteries are being made for innovative new products, Maurice has been there delivering the critical resources and guidance that has enabled these companies to move to our region and create hundreds upon hundreds of quality jobs. Maurice knows that taking these steps to create a high-tech manufacturing hub across our part of New York is creating jobs right now while laying the groundwork for many more related businesses to set-up shop and become part of an East Coast high-tech hub.

In addition to bringing in new local companies to upstate New York, Maurice understands that we need targeted tax cuts for middle class families and small businesses along with investments in businesses and communities that will create jobs now and lay the groundwork for the growth of 21st century high tech, manufacturing businesses right here in our backyard.
Maurice knows that when small businesses grow, so do our communities. That's why he helped pass bills that make $300 billion dollars in expanded credit, grants and loans available to small businesses. He voted to cut taxes on small businesses and to provide tax incentives for every new job a company creates -- an effort that's paid off with thousands of local jobs being created or saved. He also voted to provide tax credits of up to 35 percent for small businesses to provide health care benefits to their employees.

At a time when so many New Yorkers are facing difficulty paying their bills, Maurice wants us to be able to keep more of our money. That's why he helped pass a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans as part of the Recovery Act and wants to extend a variety of critical tax cuts for individuals and families earning under $250,000 annually that are set to expire at the end of this year. And as part of a strategic effort to reduce the federal deficit and national debt that is burdening middle class families and future generations of Americans, Maurice wants to bring the tax bracket for millionaires back to the level it was during the 1990's -- a period of remarkable economic growth.

And while he fights to strengthen small businesses and put more money into the pockets of middle-class families, he is also working to put an end to the most abusive practices of Wall Street firms that led to the economic collapse. Maurice voted against the big bank bailout and helped lead the effort to pass comprehensive Wall Street reform -- authoring legislation that would prevent big banks from using your deposits for risky investment schemes that often never pan out. He also helped lead the successful effort to crack down on credit company abuses by stopping unfair rate increases, prohibiting excessive fees and ending due date gimmicks and misleading terminology. He also authored legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 15 percent.

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