Moving Our Economy Forward by Investing in Our Working Families
Our ongoing economic recovery rightfully remains a top concern for people all over New Jersey. Many families are stilling struggling to make up the ground they lost as a result of the economic crisis and are struggling to make ends meet. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, with broad jurisdiction over our nation’s economic policies, I am committed to finding solutions that work for all Americans.
While we have made great progress since the end of the recession, we still have a long way to go. The unemployment rate in New Jersey continues to be higher than our national average, and we have only recovered 45% of the jobs we lost during the recession. We have recklessly allowed unemployment benefits to expire for the long-term unemployed. While the middle class has seen its share of prosperity erode, the richest Americans have never been better off. It is clear that we need to change course.
As your representative, no one has worked harder to promote the interest of American workers and the middle-class, and I am fully committed to supporting and creating new private-sector jobs right here in New Jersey. One area where we can immediately make a difference would be to raise the minimum wage to $10.10/hour. This would stimulate our economy by putting more money in the pockets of everyday workers. We must also work to close the gender pay gap and make sure that for women, equal work really does equal pay. Additionally, I strongly support comprehensive immigration reform, which allow millions of immigrants come out of the shadows and become productive, taxpaying contributors to the American economy, creating new jobs and economic growth for everyone. Finally, we must pass a long-term transportation reauthorization bill, which will not only create millions of jobs in our construction industry, but simultaneously invest in the infrasturure our nation, and especially our region, needs to lay the foundation for long-term prosperity.
Rest assured that I will continue to fight for working families here at home by pursuing policies to put more money back in their pockets and increasing economic opportunity.