Issue Position: Jobs

Issue Position

I support efforts to prevent outsourcing of jobs overseas and to create good jobs throughout all of Minnesota. We can create better economic opportunity by investing in worker training and keeping higher education affordable so that our workforce remains highly skilled and competitive. In particular, the biosciences represent an extraordinary opportunity for new businesses and new jobs in Rochester and throughout Minnesota.

Democrats believe strategic investments in economic development are an important part of building a strong economy and a strong middle class.

After years of cuts at the hands of Governor Pawlenty and Republican legislators, Governor Dayton and the DFL legislature made extraordinary investments in job creation and economic development during 2013-14.
Rep. Liebling helped shape and pass the legislation authorizing Destination Medical Center, which will encourage more private investment in Rochester by providing public infrastructure to support selected projects. Rep. Liebling believes that the public--through our elected representatives--must always have the final say when public funds are spent.
The 2014 Capital Investment bill alone is expected to put 33,000 Minnesotans to work. Projects include the Mayo Civic Center expansion and renovation, which will attract more large conventions to Rochester and boost our economy even more.
Recent indicators already show that Minnesota's economy is on the right track. Our unemployment rate is among the lowest in the nation, our economy is growing faster than the national average, and we are creating jobs at a faster rate than most other states.
Today's Republican Party seems to have given up on economic development. They insist that the only way to help businesses grow is to reduce taxes and get out of the way.

Minnesotans know that there is a role for government in economic development because they see the fruits of it all around them, but incentives must be used carefully. I will continue fighting to protect the PUBLIC interest in economic development.

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