Business

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I will fight for Montgomery County to bring back our fair share from Annapolis. Each year we send our tax dollars to the state and each year we get back only 20 cents on our tax dollar. It’s important to use our resources to help raise all boats in Maryland but we can and should do better when it comes to procuring state funds for school construction, mass transit, and utility infrastructure due to the greater burden posed by our high population density. 

  1. Improve Quality of Life by Investing in Infrastructure
    1. Government's primary responsibility to businesses is to make sure things work. Businesses will opt to locate themselves where it is desirable for their employees to live. Ensuring that schools are high performing and not overcrowded, that our roads are not congested, and that our water, sewer, and electricity utilities deliver reliable service are the most important responsibilities of government when it comes to improving the business climate. We don't need to bribe businesses to come to Montgomery County with tens of millions of dollars of tax incentives; we need to simply invest in our infrastructure to improve our quality of life.
  2. Work to Obtain our Fair Share from Annapolis
    1. Work to bring more state investment in Montgomery County, which is Maryland's economic engine. Investing state tax dollars in Metro, MCPS, Strathmore, and the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center brings jobs, regional economic growth, a more robust tax base for the State, and improves Montgomery County’s brand as a good place to do business. It’s important to use our resources to help raise all boats in Maryland and do so we need to advocate for greater state investment in our community.
    1. Reduce Costs Associated with Employee Health Benefits
      1. See the HEART Act. Businesses spend on average 8-18% of their fixed monthly overhead costs on providing employee health benefits. Bringing down these costs will make our businesses more competitive. That's why Maryland's Business Secretary Dave Edgerley has endorsed this campaign.
    2. Oppose Corporate Welfare
      1. 96% of all businesses in Montgomery County have 50 or fewer employees. Yet the State provides nearly a half billion dollars of tax-credits for multi-national corporations with thousands of employees. These companies can and should pay their regular corporate income tax just like every other business in Maryland. The argument that these tax-credits are necessary to keep these companies here is bogus; a Fortune 500 Company just left Montgomery County for New York City despite having received tens of millions of dollars of tax credits. Corporations locate their headquarters here due to the high quality of life, public education, and educated workforce that our community has to offer. The new revenues that will be collected by revoking these taxpayer subsidies will fund the addition of new teachers to our schools. 
    3. Attract Foreign Direct Investment to Montgomery County
      1. Increase funding for the Department of Business and Economic Development to attract more Foreign Direct Investment to Maryland.
    4. Support Equal Pay for Women
      1. Pay discrimination should be unlawful and has no place in our society. 
    5. Provide Tax Credits to Families Paying for Child Care
      1. Childcare often costs parents $20,000 per child each year from birth until the child is old enough to begin kindergarten at the age of 5 or 6. That amounts to about $100,000 per child. This burden is high enough that it often no longer makes sense for one of the parents to work, especially if the parents have more than one child. Providing childcare from birth through kindergarten will enable more parents to return to the workforce and pay income taxes on their wages.