Job Creation and Leadership for Washington County

Oregon is saddled with the 3rd highest unemployment rate in the country.  Clearly job creation needs to be our top priority.  Washington County’s rate is better than the state rate for a reason.  We’ve worked closely together in Washington County with city, regional and business leaders to bring new jobs to Oregon by investing in expansion of our transportation system, urging that land be set aside for industrial and commercial job creation, and by actively recruiting companies and employers to our region.

I’ve been appointed by the Senate President to serve on the National Conference of State Legislatures Transportation committee and President Courtney supported my nomination and election to the NCSL Executive committee, which has lead to opportunities to travel to other states and countries where I have worked to learn from what they have done to create jobs in their areas.  We need to put those lessons to use here in Oregon.  Investing in infrastructure, reducing the tax and regulatory burden on families and businesses, improving our educational system by funneling more of our dollars into the classroom, and providing shovel ready properties for new employers are all lessons that I’ve seen other states implement - - lessons which have created family wage jobs.
 
Over the past few years, we’ve also worked hard at the state level to bring more efficiency and reforms to state government, including agencies like ODOT.  We’ve taken a look at the successes in South Carolina, Texas and Arizona, and are working to implement new concepts and ideas here in Oregon.
 
The “Connect Oregon” freight mobility and private-sector based bridge repair/replacement packages are an example of Oregon beginning to implement lessons that we’ve seen work elsewhere.  Having personally seen these types of projects working throughout the country gives us the confidence to be able to say that they can work here at home in Oregon as well.