Congressman Rick Larsen's Online Office

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted to help small businesses create jobs, close tax loopholes and extend unemployment insurance benefits by voting for the American Jobs & Closing Tax Loopholes Act.

The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act will help create and save jobs by:

• Extending and expanding Small Business Administration 7(a) and 504 lending programs.
  

“Small businesses are the number one source of new job growth in this country, but the credit crunch has prevented them from accessing the capital they need to grow and create jobs,” said Rep. Larsen. “Between October and April, these SBA programs helped over 100 small businesses in my district access the capital they needed to expand and modernize. This bill will help local small business owners access the tools and resources they need to grow and start hiring again.”

• Extending the R&D Tax Credit for one year to incentivize keeping good jobs here in America instead of shipping them overseas.
  

“In Washington state, 17,900 jobs are supported by high-tech exports. Extending the R&D Tax Credit will allow local businesses to provide much-needed private sector jobs to local workers, instead of shipping them overseas.”

• Extending the Build America Bonds for two years to lower the cost of infrastructure improvements for state and local governments.
  

“The Build America Bonds are helping Washington state and county governments afford to fix crumbling infrastructure and rebuild our roads, schools and hospitals,” said Rep. Larsen. “Snohomish County Public Utility District announced last week that they will be creating good private sector jobs in our community by utilizing $142 million in Build America Bonds to construct local projects.”

This bill will help Washington state by extending the deduction of state and local sales tax provision for one year. This will save Washington state taxpayers $475 million and will save up to 3,000 jobs. This legislation will also help Washington state by ensuring the state continues to receive federal investments in roads and bridges that help boost the economy by moving freight and commerce around the region. And, unemployment insurance benefits are extended for people who are still out of work and would have lost benefits at the end of this month.

“Middle class families in Northwest Washington are still devastated by this economic crisis. I am committed to helping the families and small business owners who are still fighting their way out of this recession,” said Rep. Larsen

“There are hundreds of folks in the 2nd District who lost their job through no fault of their own and are still unable to find work. Extending unemployment benefits will help these folks pay their bills and will fuel our local economy as they use the money to buy food and fill their cars with gas.”

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