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Jobs and the Economy

Earl believes that everyone in the United States deserves to live in a community that is safe, healthy, and economically secure. This means creating an economy that works for all Oregonians while safeguarding our environment through smart investments and appropriate oversight of the economic system.

Creating Jobs and Helping the Middle Class

In recent years, the percentage of Americans able to find good jobs has decreased, incomes have stagnated for all but the richest people, and Americans are feeling less secure in their economic well-being. These issues were only exasperated by the economic fall out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earl believes we need to do more to address income inequality, create good jobs, increase the federal minimum wage and lift working standards to promote a society that grows together, and ensure that economic shocks, like losing one's job or a major illness, don't become economic catastrophes for people. Passing Raise the Wage Act of 2019 that would increase the minimum wage across the country would be a step in the right direction.

Earl also supports an increase in the earned income tax credit that would increase the wages of the lowest income workers, particularly people with children. He also is pushing for more paid family leave on the national level.

Earl is also an advocate for the rights of workers to organize and believes that a vibrant union movement is key to the continued strength of the middle class.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Earl helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1.2 trillion investment to modernize America’s crumbling infrastructure and create millions of good-paying jobs.

Specific provisions secured by Earl in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act:

  • Reinstate the Superfund tax on applicable hazardous chemicals.
  • Create a $1 billion Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program to fund projects that help prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets.
  • A 70 percent increase for funding to create and maintain bike lanes and sidewalks, and make shared micromobility (bikesharing and shared scooter system) an eligible use of resources from a federal program designed to reduce road congestion.
  • Reauthorize and expand the state pilot projects to test the feasibility of user-based alternative revenue mechanisms to help maintain the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is expected to allocate over $1.6 billion in investments to Oregon as follows: 

  • $747 million in public transit investments;
  • $529 million to improve access to safe drinking water; 
  • $268 million for bridge replacement and repairs; 
  • $52 million to expand our electric vehicle charging station network; and
  • $39 million to help protect against wildfires.

Restaurant Revitalization Fund

Earl believes that small, local restaurants are the cornerstone of a livable community. They have employed nearly 60% of Americans at some point in their lives, are a major source of employment for people of color and immigrants, and support a $1 trillion supply chain. Restaurants and their employees were hit harder than any industry during the pandemic, they were some of the first businesses forced to shut down and the last allowed to reopen.

Earl is proud to champion the fight to ensure the restaurant industry survives the pandemic. In 2020, he introduced the RESTAURANTS Act, which set the groundwork for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a $28.6 billion grant program for restaurants, food carts, and bars that passed in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan. This program provided critical support for hundreds of thousands of restaurants, but only one-third of all applicants were funded. Earl introduced the Relief for Restaurants and other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act in 2022 to finish the job. This legislation would provide relief for restaurants that did not receive aid from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and support other battered industries like travel, hospitality, fitness, and live event venues.

Paid Leave

Earl believes we need paid leave so that Americans are able to leave work to care for themselves or their loved ones without fear of losing their job. He supports the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act that would create a national program to help new parents and people with serious personal or family health problems take the time they need to care for themselves or their loved ones.

Trade and the International Economy

The federal government must do more to protect and grow our manufacturing base and promote high-level research and development in the United States.

As a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee and ranking member of the Trade Subcommittee, Earl is working to create worker-centered trade policies that  allows American workers to compete on a level playing field. He is pushing for a new era of trade that reflects changes in the economy, new technology and the global community. Key to this is stronger enforcement of trade agreements and higher environmental standards.

Closing the De Minimis Loophole

In 2022, Earl introduced the Import Security and Fairness Act to close the so-called “de minimis loophole” which allows imports valued under the $800 de minimis threshold to come into the United States without paying duties, taxes, or fees and without rigorous inspection from Customs and Border Patrol. This loophole makes it easier for bad actors to import illegal goods and harmful products, because there is virtually no way to tell whether these packages contain products made through forced labor, intellectual property theft, or are otherwise dangerous. The Import Security and Fairness Act would prohibit goods from countries that are both non-market economies and on the USTR’s priority watch list from using the de minimis threshold.