MD Business Leadership PAC

MD BUSINESS LEADERSHIP PAC

The Maryland Business Leadership Political Action Committee

The Maryland Business Leadership Political Action Committee (MBL PAC) considers these questions, and more, every day as we work to improve Maryland’s economy, business climate, and job prospects for our entire citizenry. We think the issues illustrated above are the two greatest concerns for the future of our great state. Our current Governor has made impressive inroads into reversing our national reputation as a state that is unfriendly to business and, therefore, one to which few business owners choose to relocate. In fact, Maryland is more often the source of outbound relocations. The citizens of Maryland made their voices heard in 2014 when we elected a new Governor who was singularly focused on the state’s economy. They understood that relying on a federal- government-centered economy is a sink or swim prospect: when the swimming is good, it’s great; but when it’s bad, such as during the furloughs of 2013’s federal budget sequestration, it becomes obvious that Maryland needs a broader employment base to be fiscally healthy. That improved employment base requires an improved, sustainable, predictable business climate. Simply put, if we make it harder for businesses to employ people – by imposing ever-increasing workplace regulations and enacting punitive tax policy – fewer people will be employed. So if the Governor “gets it”, and the voters get it, why don’t the legislators? Why are the executive branch’s pro-business/pro-jobs initiatives rebuffed or squelched by the legislative branch? We could speculate whether it’s a lack of understanding, competing priorities, or simply politics, but that is actually not very helpful. What is helpful is change. That change comes from electing new legislators (of either party) who demonstrably share the pro-business/pro-jobs mentality that has been shown over and over again throughout the U.S. to lead to broad prosperity at all socio-economic levels. The MBL PAC helps effect that change. Armed with the voting records compiled by Maryland Business for Responsive Government (MBRG) over the past 33 years, we can see exactly which of the state’s 188 legislators typically vote for the pro-business/pro-jobs bills introduced each year and which vote against them. Most legislators – almost all of them, in fact – claim to be pro-business. But only a small percentage can actually demonstrate it. If a senator, for example, has a pro-business score that significantly lags the scores of the delegates in his or her same district, then that senator either needs to improve his/her votes or be replaced by another legislator who is more reliably pro-business/pro-jobs and representative of his/her district. It’s that simple. Legislative Races Need to be Won

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