EconomyFirst
A 10-Point Plan to Boost our First District Economy
Lower cost of living. Better jobs in our communities. More money in your pocket.
My top priority as your Congresswoman will always be the economy first – leading conversations and driving policy solutions that will keep our regional economy vibrant and strong. That starts with tackling inflation, lowering taxes for middle class families and small business owners, and creating more good-paying jobs.
As the daughter of a factory welder, I intimately understand the importance of a good job with solid wages and benefits to care for a family. From my time in the small business and non-profit sectors, I know the struggles of meeting payroll, the challenges of a lack of access to capital, and the weight of certain regulations that can hinder our creative spirit and threaten our ability to succeed. As a former state legislator, city councilmember, and congressional staff member, I have experience navigating every level of government and understanding exactly where informed engagement and persistence can deliver the best results for an economy that benefits us all.
My job is to engage in hyper-local conversations at every level of business and government to understand how best to champion our First District needs in Washington, DC – within the Congressional legislative process as well as interactions with federal agencies whose regulatory and grant-making decisions have vast impacts on our local economies. It matters that we have our voices represented at the federal decision tables and that we elect a fierce advocate to make sure we are competitive, innovative, and successful. It’s time we “Score More for the Shore” and Harford and Baltimore Counties.
Over the course of 2021, I conducted a range of economic development meetings, tours, and roundtable conversations with experts and stakeholders in our communities to better understand our area’s economic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and to formulate this federal economic strategy that is tailored to our region.
This is not a spending plan. Most of EconomyFirst is a blueprint of how I will ensure the First District gets its share of money that Congress is already allocating. Relentlessly pursuing federal funding opportunities provides a stimulant to partner with and to unleash the job-creating potential of organizations, institutions, and private sector and industry investments in our region.
The plan is largely not reliant on new spending – and in the cases where I am calling for targeted new investments, those will be more than paid for by closing tax loopholes for large corporations and asking individuals who make more than $400K annually to pay the same rates they were paying before the 2017 Trump tax cuts went into effect. Any excess revenue created by asking the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share should be used to reduce the deficit.
In the state legislature, I served on the House budget committee under Appropriations Chairman Norm Conway (Wicomico & Worcester). Delegate Conway always stressed our Eastern Shore budget values of being “socially responsible and fiscally prudent.” EconomyFirst is a reflection of that philosophy.
Original source can be found here
