Throughout American history each generation has labored to leave a better, more prosperous nation for the next generation. In order to pass on an economy that will provide opportunity and hope to the next generation, Senator Bayh has consistently pursued fiscally responsible policies that harness American ingenuity and the nation’s small businesses to drive economic growth. He has also advocated for important investments in the nation’s existing workforce, including resources to help American companies strengthen their competitiveness in the global market, to ensure that the American dream remains within reach of middle class families and their children.

Fighting for Indiana’s Manufacturers and Workers

With Indiana having the largest percentage of manufacturing employees of any state in the country, Senator Bayh has focused on helping Indiana’s manufacturers remain competitive in the global economy. He has helped lead the fight in Congress to expand the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which helps small manufacturers grow their businesses, hire more workers and improve their profitability and global competitiveness. Additionally, he has fought to protect Hoosiers from the unfair and illegal trade practices that have contributed to the loss of more than 110,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000. Advocating for Indiana’s steel industry, Senator Bayh pushed for an investigation into unfair trade practices of foreign steel producers. The investigation led to temporary tariffs that gave the nation’s steel companies time to restructure and streamline their operations and put them in a better position to compete in the global marketplace. Senator Bayh has also introduced legislation to strengthen protections for manufacturers from criminals bent on pirating or counterfeiting their products and cutting-edge designs. For more information on Senator Bayh's efforts to create a balanced trade policy, click here.

Supporting Small Business Growth and Innovation

As a member of the Small Business Committee, Senator Bayh has focused on making more resources and tools available to Indiana's small businesses, which make up more than 97 percent of all Indiana companies and employ more than one million Hoosiers. Recognizing that innovation is the key to growth, Senator Bayh has called for doubling the funding for the Small Business Innovation Research program, which provided nearly $17 million in crucial research and development capital to Indiana companies alone in 2005.

Knowing that access to capital is the life-blood of small businesses and can make the difference between bankruptcy and a growing small business, Senator Bayh cosponsored legislation that temporarily eliminated the onerous fees small businesses must pay to access Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. SBA’s biggest lending programs have helped create nearly 20,000 Hoosier jobs and retain thousands more over the past five years. He has also called for expanding small business expensing, which provides important tax relief to help businesses grow.

Connecting Hoosiers with Good-Paying Jobs

Each August, Senator Bayh hosts a series of job fairs and small business summits throughout Indiana to help connect Hoosiers with important job training, counseling and employment opportunities, as well as link small business owners with resources to help grow their business and create good-paying jobs. In 2008, more than 5,000 job opportunities were available at job fairs across the state. Thousands of Hoosiers attend these events annually to learn about job opportunities in their communities.

Keeping Families in Their Homes

Senator Bayh has pushed the Bush administration to more aggressively address the housing and credit crisis that has undermined the nation’s economy and put far too many American families at risk of losing their homes. Noting the ripple effect that mass foreclosures can have on communities, Senator Bayh has urged the administration to respond proactively to the problem by pressuring lenders to make changes to avoid hundreds of thousands of additional foreclosures. Senator Bayh also called on the Federal Reserve to strengthen mortgage lending rules to combat the abusive practices that contributed to the nation’s subprime mortgage crisis.

Restoring Our Fiscal Health

Senator Bayh believes that responsible fiscal stewardship and economic growth go hand-in-hand, and as a result has been a leader in the Senate in the fight to restore fiscal responsibility and reduce the federal budget deficit. He has repeatedly highlighted the dangers posed by increasing deficits and debt, in particular our growing dependence on foreign countries to finance our excessive spending. Additionally, he’s been a strong advocate for ending wasteful spending and frivolous earmarks, including being one of only 15 senators to vote against the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere,” a $223 million project to connect a small Alaska town to an island. Senator Bayh has also supported important budget reforms to restore fiscal responsibility.

Creating Good-Paying Jobs

Senator Bayh has supported a wide range of tax proposals to help businesses create good- paying jobs and invest in research and development (R&D) to increase their competitiveness in the global economy. Bayh has called for making the R&D tax credit permanent, in order to encourage more businesses to develop innovative, high-tech methods to help give them an edge and succeed in today's fast-paced, global marketplace.

As middle-class families have trouble making ends meet during the current economic downturn, Senator Bayh has sought to provide relief to hardworking Hoosiers. He supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which helped create or save an estimated 79,000 Hoosier jobs.  Furthermore, nearly $4 billion was designated for Indiana to fund much-needed programs and projects throughout the state.

Senator Bayh also supported of the Job Creation Act of 2004 to create new jobs and provide important tax relief for manufacturers without costing taxpayers a dime. The JOBS bill included a wide variety of initiatives designed to strengthen the economy, including a 9 percent tax deduction for manufacturers that will effectively lower manufacturers' top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 32 percent. The tax deduction is available to all profitable American manufacturing companies, can be used by companies to hire more workers, and encourages manufacturers to invest in high-tech equipment to make them more competitive.