Chairman Levin’s Opening Statement at Markup of H.R. 4849, the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin (D-MI), delivered the following statement today at a Ways and Means markup of H.R. 4849, the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2010:

"In calling this mark-up, I expressed several aims. One is that our Committee exercise its responsibility to be in the forefront of efforts to strengthen the economic security for hardworking families -- their Number one desire -- to have a job. The House approved the HIRE Act earlier this month and the Senate is set to vote today, one step to respond to that vital need.

"Each one of us knows the acute pain this recession brought to communities at home with the loss of jobs, health care and homes brought on by the financial crisis and economic downturn.

"Since the beginning of the recession in December, 2007 – 8.4 Million Jobs have been lost -- a historic high since the Great Depression,

"In the 1st quarter of 2008 the average monthly loss was: 31,000; the 2nd quarter 191,000 jobs; the 3rd quarter 334,000 jobs; the 4th quarter 653,000 jobs

"As the new Administration was taking over in 2009, the average monthly loss in the first quarter was the astronomical number of 753,000 jobs.

"This Administration and the Congress responded, and the number of jobs lost began to drop from 477,000 in the 2nd quarter of 2009, to 261,000 in the 3rd quarter, and 90,000 in the 4th.

"In January of this year the improved over-all growth rate was reflected in the economy losing 26,000. And, in February, a loss of 36,000 jobs

"Clearly, much work remains to be done to jumpstart job creation.

"The Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act is a step by this Committee to address that critical, indeed, over-arching need. In doing so, the contents of this Bill should engender support for a second hope I had in calling this Mark-up. This bill deserves bi-partisan support, not partisan attacks.

"What it does warrants that support. It will help to achieve what must be a Number one goal of this Committee and the Congress -- to support the private sector to create jobs.

"It contains assistance to Small Business -- which must create a major portion of the huge number of new jobs -- many millions of them. It reflects the rigorous test--the standard -- for inclusion of provisions in this bill -- job creation.

"The cornerstone of this package is an extension of the Build America Bonds, which have been an effective tool in job creation and a vital resource for State and local governments looking to advance infrastructure programs.

"When the recession hit, local governments faced unprecedented challenges in accessing credit. Build America Bonds helped fill this demand with the option of accessing the corporate taxable bond market. Finance experts have deemed BABs ‘one of the economic recovery efforts biggest successes.'

"As of March 1, 2010, State and local governments have used BABs to finance more than $78 billion in infrastructure programs. BABs have created jobs and financed programs in urban and rural areas. In my home state of Michigan, BABs have been used 35 times for a total of $1.394 billion in project funding to help improve our schools, water utilities, sewers, hospitals, transit and other public projects.

"I know many of my colleagues have seen the success of BABs in their hometowns and heard from local elected officials who understand how vital these resources are during a time of economic downturn.

"Some of my colleagues have also seen the success of Recovery Zone bonds, which are targeted specifically to areas of high unemployment.

"Some areas of the country with high unemployment did not receive recovery bond allocations in previous bills and this legislation attempts to remedy this by providing an additional allocation that would ensure that all areas nationwide receive at least a minimum allocation of Recovery Zone bonds based on the number of unemployed in that locality.

"This is a means of honing in, targeting our resources where they are needed most. In addition to extending BABs, and targeting Recovery Zone Bonds, today's legislation takes additional steps to help communities, particularly those in low-income areas, attract investments.

"By exempting New Market Tax Credits from the AMT, we can hopefully encourage new investors to help create economic opportunities in these low-income communities.

"While we continue expanding our work to give State and local governments the resources they need to create jobs and improve our communities, we must also look at ways to provide relief to small businesses, a critical engine for our economic recovery.

"As many of you know, President Obama outlined a proposal in his budget to exclude 100% of capital gains on small business stock. We share his view that this provision would help encourage immediate investments and growth that will in turn help our small businesses hire new workers and continue fueling our economic recovery.

"We have also included provisions to remove onerous penalties from small businesses to help owners of those businesses focus their resources on keeping their workers employed and hopefully adding new workers as they grow.

"As confidence in the economy continues to grow, we will see new entrepreneurs emerge willing to start new enterprises and this bill takes an important step to reduce the barrier of start up expenses on new businesses. By allowing entrepreneurs to recover a greater portion of their start-up expenses, the proposal would assist small business owners in overcoming these barriers so they too can focus on hiring new workers and growing their business.

"Today's bill is the product of collaboration between members of this Committee, the Administration and our colleagues in Congress. A number of the individual provisions have been introduced as separate legislation with bi-partisan support and we have distributed a list of Build America Bond projects in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

"Today's hearing is another step – and there will be more -- taken by this Committee to address the staggering job loss. I yield to my friend Dave Camp and welcome his opening remarks."

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