Congressional Update from Cory Gardner
Russ Baldwin | Oct 19, 2011 | Comments 0
Jobs and the national economy still top the list of congressional discussions, according to U.S. Congressman Cory Gardner, speaking to a gathering at the Community Center this Tuesday in Wiley. “This is the 31st consecutive month that our national unemployment rate has been above 8%,” he said. Gardner noted that he’s conducting his 53rd Town Hall Meeting since taking office as representative of the 4th Congressional District, and continues to seek input from local residents on national issues. The freshman representative said he’s introduced a Small Business Savings Account bill before congress as a means of jobs stimulation. The bill allows a tax break on the savings a person accrues in order to start their own small business operation. He said another measure he’s introduced to the House could create 54,000 jobs in energy security and help generate the production of a million barrels of oil a day from national production. He said the measure has bi-partisan support and will move on to the Senate for action.
Gardner also referenced a mail out campaign from the past August called the, “One More Job Initiative” in which business leaders were asked what they believed it would take to get the state’s economy turned around. He told the gathering that, “If just 10% of the business in Colorado were in a position to hire just one more person, we’d be able to create 60,000 more jobs.” He said the responses indicated that less red tape and regulations pertaining to business loans is one obstacle many small business owners would like to see fixed. He added that on a national level, we can’t see a significant growth in the job market unless we are able to stop spending at the federal level.
Some topics of concern from the audience ranged from immigration laws and border security. Prowers County Sheriff Jim Faull noted that there’s been a continued escalation of drug crimes and violence along some of the border towns between Mexico and the U.S. and he had concerns that if not checked, could start to spread along our nation’s border states. On national finance, Gardner said by November 23rd, Congress has been tasked with curtailing $1.5 Trillion in spending, and if not, triggers will automatically reduce spending in some areas. On the 23rd funding for the federal government will expire again, and work will have to be done an a financial package to get the country through to the next fiscal year, and a vote is expected on a balanced federal budget before the year is out. Gardner also predicted that the new Farm Bill will not see creation until another year down the line. “As this is an election year, as we did the last time, we’ll probably extend the current Farm Bill for another year, and then take action writing a new one,” he added.
By Russ Baldwin
Filed Under: Agriculture • Business • community • County • Economy • Education • Employment • Energy • Politics • Transportation • Utilities • Wiley
About the Author: