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PETER KINDER: A RECORD OF OPPOSING JOB CREATION DURING TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES
For Immediate Release: January 20, 2010 Contact: Ryan Hobart (573) 636-5241 Ext. 125 PETER KINDER: A RECORD OF OPPOSING JOB CREATION DURING TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES Peter Kinder has a lot to say about boosting the economy, but he has a record of opposing innovative job creation proposals. In just the past year, he has opposed an initiative to stimulate the economy by helping small business owners expand and an initiative to help Missouri’s housing market recover, expand home ownership opportunities and increase employment in the construction industry. “Peter Kinder has consistently sided against job creation and against Missourians who are out of work,” said Missouri Democratic Party Spokesman Ryan Hobart. “He has voted against loans to help small businesses and opportunities to increase employment in the construction industry. When he starts blaming people for not doing enough to help the economy, perhaps he should take a look at his own dismal record on job creation.” KINDER OPPOSES INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES Peter Kinder Was Sole Vote Against Small Business Loan Program. On April 21, 2009, “Gov. Jay Nixon won approval…for a new $2 million state loan program that [has provided] several dozen small businesses with up to $25,000 each. The program provides “loans of between $2,500 and $25,000 at 3 percent interest to Missouri businesses with five or fewer employees.” “Kinder’s voice was the only audible ‘no’ when the [Missouri Development Finance] board voted to proceed.” (The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 04/22/09) Kinder Said $25,000 Loan Too Small To Help Small Businesses. The lieutenant governor “said that with $25,000, a business could buy ‘a desk and a computer and a chair.’” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 03/25/09). “‘Two-million dollars wouldn’t go very far in helping Missouri to create jobs,’ said Gary McElyea, a spokesman for Mr. Kinder.” (St. Joseph News-Press, 06/02/09) Governor Jay Nixon, on August 14, 2009, “announced the first ten Missouri small businesses that have been awarded low-interest loans as part” of this program, which is known as the Missouri Small Business Loan Program. (Governor Jay Nixon, Press Release, 08/14/09) KINDER OPPOSES PLAN TO CREATE JOBS BY STIMULATING HOUSING SECTOR Kinder Was Sole Vote Against Plan To Reimburse Property Taxes To Boost Home Ownership and Construction Employment. Peter Kinder, in 2009, opposed the creation of a $15 million property tax cut proposal designed to expand home ownership and create jobs by stimulating the housing sector. He called it “welfare” and a “half-baked proposal.” On December 18, 2009, the Missouri Housing Development Commission [MHDC] approved using $15 million to “assist anyone who buys a house in 2010 with their property taxes” by providing up to $1,250 to homeowners in help with property taxes, as well as an additional $500 in help with property taxes “if they take steps to make their properties more energy-efficient within 60 days of the closing.” Peter Kinder, who “was the lone dissenting vote” on MHDC, “questioned whether establishing property tax cuts fit within the housing agency’s purpose and called it a ‘half-baked proposal.” “‘Since when are we getting the state and this commission into the welfare business for people who make just a fraction under a $100,000 a year?’ Kinder said.” (The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 12/19/09) --30--
