Mike Forrester Wants To Continue Working for Job Creation

New State Representative Has Become Known As Jobs Advocate

Spartanburg, SC - March 3, 2010 - After just one year in the State House of Representatives, Mike Forrester has become known as a strong advocate for job creation through conservative reforms. Forrester has been a consistent voice for restrained spending, lower taxes, and government restructuring, doing what it takes to support the business community and to empower South Carolina’s workforce. In announcing his bid for re-election today, Forrester released the following statement:

“I’m going to run by doing the same thing I did last time. I’m going to walk to as many doors as possible to talk directly with voters about the tools it takes to grow our economy and create jobs.

Businesses won’t expand or relocate here just because we cross our fingers and hope. The groundwork needs to be laid beforehand. The departure of many jobs from the Upstate means we have to rethink the
sort of jobs we’re going to have. We’re already seeing growth in the high-tech manufacturing industry, creating new workforce requirements and a new demand on our education system.

One of my goals is to work to make two- and four-year colleges more affordable so that people can go back to school and adapt to the changing economy.

As well, we can’t ignore basic infrastructure needs – one of the last things a business owner wants to hear is, “You can’t get there from here.” When the government spends money, it should be on necessities like keeping up our roads. South Carolina’s location, in addition to the Port of Charleston, sets up our area to be in a good position when it comes to transportation. We need to ensure that those trucks have good roads to travel on.

And, those roads should lead to Spartanburg County. That particular task is not as easy as it once was, and not just because of the economy. Over the past two elections, the Upstate has lost a lot of its clout in the General Assembly. That means it’s even more important for Upstate legislators to band together to look out for your interests in Columbia.

There are few interests more important than having a good job. A number of bills are already in the works to facilitate job creation – lower taxes, government restructuring and spending caps. Big government is as bad for business as it is for your wallet. By cutting away bureaucracy, we’re able to save your money and keep to Thomas Jefferson’s axiom that, “government is best which governs least.” With common-sense government reforms like zero-based budgeting and spending caps, the stage is set for legislators to control and limit the growth of government.

Efforts to bring about spending caps and pass meaningful tax reduction on businesses haven’t been too successful lately. It’s past time for the General Assembly to act and provide meaningful results to South Carolina companies. Legislators also need to stand up for small business. While bringing in big companies like Boeing and BMW is not something to discount, it’s also important to pay attention to the
small businesses that supply the big ones. We need to look at creative ways to help our smaller companies grow their businesses and remain competitive. Additionally, we need to focus on ways we can help entrepreneurs on the road to opening new businesses. Bringing in jobs from out-of-state and helping existing businesses prosper is good, but we need to allow people the opportunity to grow companies from the bottom up.

Let’s not forget about tort reform, either. The increasingly outrageous cost of insurance – health and otherwise – is being driven by frivolous lawsuits in the civil court system. Businesses are bearing the brunt of these costs and addressing and fixing the tort system in our state will go a long way to making South Carolina a more hospitable place to do commerce.

It’s a full plate, but the work is needed, and so much remains to be done. That’s why I’ve decided to run again to represent District 34 in the State House. We need to keep up the fight in Columbia to make this a great place to work. ”

###

Comments