Jobs
12.10.2009
Jobs are the number one issue in my campaign, but jobs can't be considered in a vacuum. Issues like health care and fair trade policies go hand in hand with developing a sustainable recovery in Ohio and stable communities for the years to come.
There is no silver bullet for creating new and better jobs. It will take cooperation among many levels of government, business and even advocacy groups to grow Ohio's economy again.
I have worked as an elected official collaboratively with other government agencies and levels of government to achieve creative solutions to problems and have met with great success. This kind of leadership requires a long-term commitment and will be essential to jump starting Ohio's economic recovery as the nation moves forward. I want to be a partner with President Obama and Senator Sherrod Brown in making Ohio's economy and social fabric strong again.
Even though the recession is officially over, we’re still waiting for the jobs to return. Right now, unemployment in Ohio is at 10.9% for February, and this doesn’t reflect the additional numbers of people who have given up or are not looking for a job but still don’t have one. The following proposals are included in my jobs platform:
1. INFRASTRUCTURE: Jobs are key to restarting Ohio's economy, and immediately aiming stimulus funding toward jobs such as infrastructure rebuilding, easily accessible by Ohio's many skilled trades workers, would have better served Ohioans who have been hit harder than those in most states by the economic downturn. That can and should still happen.
2. RETOOLING OHIO’S JOB ECONOMY: Jennifer Brunner launched an Innovation Trail Tour to get a first-hand look at what is in store for Ohio’s future. She will use the knowledge she gained on the tour to shape policy that helps retool Ohio’s economy to create new and sustainable jobs for Ohio’s future that includes clean energy jobs that produce clean energy and the equipment needed to do it, as well as for advances in the bio-medical fields closely related to the top-rated hospital and university medical institutions that Ohio enjoys now.
3. EMPLOYEES’ RIGHTS TO COLLECTIVELY BARGAIN: And as new economy jobs are created, she will be a vocal supporter of workers’ rights to choose whether or not an election should be held to collectively bargain with their employer through measures such as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). As Secretary of State, Jennifer understands the integrity and importance of a secret ballot election held without conditions of coercion or suppression, and she restored bargaining unit jobs in her own office that had been outsourced by her predecessor, increasing productivity and response time and saving money.
4. SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH INSURANCE AND CREDIT: Small businesses and entrepreneurs need the relief of being able to get affordable health care for themselves, their families and employees. They also need credit that should be available through community banks, backed by government guarantees (using paid back and unspent TARP funds). The credit available should not be laced with onerous government forms and requirements that slow down the process and should be available for companies as small as 2 or 3 people.
5. TASK FORCE APPROACH TO WORKER RETRAINING: Task forces should be created in communities to bring together business and skilled labor to apply for grants and worker retraining funds, to administer the funds with the assistance of state Jobs and Family Services offices and to get workers retrained for a "retooled" economy where great promise has been shown in the development and production of a variety of sources of clean energy, biomedical advances and the marrying of industry and agriculture in exciting new innovations to locally produce energy and food and sell it outside the state using our well-developed systems and networks of transportation.
6. PART-TIME WORK WHILE ON UNEMPLOYMENT TO SPEED REEMPLOYMENT: In many states such as Ohio, unemployed workers are not permitted to work part-time. If an unemployed worker receiving unemployment compensation would be permitted to work part-time and to subtract earnings from part-time work from his or her unemployment compensation payments, with a payout being the difference between the weekly benefit and weekly part-time earnings, less of the unemployed workers' insurance would be spent, allowing the worker to maintain benefits longer and lowering the overall cost to the government because the need to extend unemployment insurance would decrease for these workers. Often, part-time work leads to full-time work, taking an individual off the unemployment rolls and alleviating unemployment compensation altogether.
7. PENSION AND HEALTH CARE ASSURANCE FOR RETIREES:In Youngstown, Ohio, retired salaried and administrative employees of the former Delphi plant, whose pensions and health care plans were guaranteed by GM, have ended up with their plans left in the bankrupt GM, absolving the "new GM" of the obligations to cover them. Many of them were given incentives to retire early. There is a surprising number of corporations who have been alleviated of their obligations to their pensioners, with benefits picked up by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation that pays pennies on the dollar of pensions for which it is responsible. With an aging population, regulations must be reexamined regarding the ability of seniors and retirees to work and the extent to which they may work without penalty. Also, the need to pass comprehensive health care reform that will insure more, lower the overall risk by increasing the pool of insureds, will lower health care costs and assist with continuity in retiree health care and pensions, especially for those retirees who do not yet qualify for Medicare.
8. TRADE AND JOB OUTSOURCING TO OTHER COUNTRIES: She will push for fair and intelligent trade to replace “free trade” agreements and to prevent foreign predatory practices. She will push for eliminating favorable corporate tax treatment that creates incentives to move American jobs out of the country.
Please also read my blog post and press release:
http://www.jenniferbrunner.com/index.php/blog/post/the_lack_of_jobs_is_taking_its_toll_/
U.S. Senate Candidate Brunner Wants Unspent Bank Bailout Money Used for Roads, Bridges
Updated: April 13th, 2010
