Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Maryland’s Priorities: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Governor O’Malley’s State of the State address focused on the economy and job creation.
“There is no government program as important or as empowering as a job. Therefore, progress requires that we focus the energies of this session on three primary actions: creating jobs, saving jobs and protecting jobs.”
During his speech, the Governor mentioned his $3,000 tax credit for businesses that hire someone off Maryland’s unemployment rolls. He also discussed a number of the items from his plan to strengthen small business, including the creation of a loan guarantee program and streamlined loan application and approval process for small businesses.
Governor O’Malley continued to focus on Maryland’s economic strength in life sciences, technology and cyber security. He said that the more than 50 federal facilities in Maryland present economic development and job creation opportunities for the state. “Our work is to leverage these innovation assets to create more jobs and more opportunities for more Maryland families.”
In the Republican response, Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman focused on the state’s budget deficit and the tax increases enacted during the 2007 special session. He said that Democratic leaders in Annapolis have rejected commonsense reforms offered by Republicans to solve the deficit and encourage job growth. “The 2010 legislative session must be about reducing government spending. We must approach every policy decision with two questions: (1) Will it strengthen Maryland’s economic security? and (2) Will it lessen the financial burden on our citizens?”
You can watch the video of the State of the State Address and Republican response here, courtesy of Maryland Public Television and the Baltimore Sun:
