Economists point to June 2009 as the recession’s official end, yet more than two years later, millions of Americans remain without work.  In fact, since June 2009, our employment growth has been negative or near zero, except for a couple of months last year.

This summer has been particularly difficult.  Only 58 percent of American adults have a job – a figure that matches the lowest of the recession.  Of those without work, more than six million have been unemployed for longer than six months.  As a scholar from the American Enterprise Institute put it, the economic recession may have ended, but the “employment recession” continues.  We are long overdue in getting Americans back to work.

                         ‘Exactly What We Don’t Need’

Small businesses play a pivotal role in our economy and create two-thirds of new jobs.  Unfortunately, the confidence that these businesses need to hire and invest has been hurt by uncertainty in Washington.  The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) reported last week that the government has created “a sizable helping of anxiety – exactly what we don’t need.”

The White House has done little to allay these fears.  Late last month, the President issued a statement against the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act, which is designed to safeguard employers from pro-union campaigns.  The bill was created after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sued Boeing for moving part of its airplane production to a non-unionized facility in South Carolina.  As a Wall Street Journal editorial pointed out, this kind of action from the NLRB unfairly punishes workers who live in states like Mississippi with right-to-work laws.  It “strikes millions of people as contrary to the kind of freedom that America was founded on.”   

                         Removing Harmful Regulations

We have already seen the type of policies that do not work.  President Obama’s $789 billion economic stimulus plan failed to yield the “shovel-ready” jobs that it promised.  His de facto moratorium on domestic energy production continues to hold back more than a million new jobs.  Instead of tax reform, the President has chosen to talk more about tax hikes in recent months – a reversal from just last year, when he said we should be giving tax incentives to “millions of entrepreneurs … to hire new workers.”

New regulations are part of the job-killing equation.  The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill has made it harder for small businesses to get loans.  The mandates of the President’s health-care law have added unfair financial burdens.  According to the NFIB, the majority of small businesses expect uncontrolled health-care costs, higher taxes, and more paperwork from the 2,000-page health-care law.  Both of these costly pieces of legislation need to be repealed.

                         Restoring Businesses’ Trust

We need to create a pro-growth environment that businesses can trust.  We cannot hope to keep investment here at home with the 0.4 percent economic growth that was recorded during the first quarter of this year.  Eliminating loopholes and lowering tax rates would encourage greater capital flows and raise domestic demand.  Removing unnecessary regulations would give businesses the confidence they need.

State governments can make an impact, too.  A recent study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce suggests that more than 700,000 new jobs could be created with better state policies and regulations.  Mississippi is already on the right track.  We earned a top-tier score this year from the Chamber of Commerce for our promotion of job growth at the state level.  We must continue to fight for jobs if we want to see our economic numbers back on the rise. 

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