Jobs and the Economy

Marty keeps a strong focus on economic development, job creation, and job preservation. She understands how important it is to put people back to work. We must accelerate economic growth, and Marty is committed to continually improving the business landscape in Massachusetts.

Small businesses play a central role in our economic recovery, and we must give them the tools they need to prosper. Marty supported the new economic development law that will help small businesses open, expand and create jobs. It also overhauls the state’s constellation of business-development agencies, establishing one streamlined organization that reduces redundancy and waste. Marty also worked to halt the 2010 unemployment-insurance rate increase, saving businesses $391 million, and voted to stop the 2011 rate increase, saving another $551 million.

To level the playing field for small businesses and home-grown Massachusetts companies, Marty voted to close corporate tax loopholes and to reduce the corporate tax rate from 9.5% in 2009 to 8.0% in 2012. This has increased revenues and will more fairly spread the tax burden among corporations.

Marty works in collaboration with other elected officials to keep and create jobs in Boston and Cambridge. She led the successful fight to preserve the Hynes Convention Center, a key economic driver for the Back Bay. She voted for the Restaurant Rejuvenation Act, which allows restaurants to serve alcohol starting at 10 a.m. for Sunday brunch.

Film tax credits, of which Marty was an early supporter, have put residents of Boston and Cambridge to work, not only in the film industry but also in the restaurants, retailers, and hotels that film spending supports. Marty opposed, and will continue to oppose, any cap on film tax credits.

Especially important to Cambridge, Marty was an early supporter of the Life Sciences Initiative, which takes a targeted approach to increasing high-paying jobs by drawing biotech companies to Massachusetts and retaining talented scientists at state institutions. She voted for our groundbreaking stem cell research law that made us a center for cutting-edge, life-saving research.

Marty also voted for the Green Jobs Act, which strengthens our clean-energy sector, and to create the Massachusetts Creative Economy Council, which delivers yearly reports to the legislature on the best policies for supporting the creative economy, the long-overlooked industries that provide creative services such as advertising, architecture, arts, film, computer gaming, multimedia, and design.

Because she has serious concerns about the negative impacts of expanded gambling on Boston and Cambridge, Marty has consistently voted against slot machines at race tracks and resort-style casinos. Resort-style casinos, especially one at Suffolk Downs, would siphon business from local shops, restaurants, and performing-arts venues.