U.S. Senator Marco Rubio: Sparking Dynamic Growth in 21st Century America

Fact Sheet: Sparking Dynamic Growth in 21st Century America
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio
Kemp Forum Sponsored by Google and the Jack Kemp Foundation
March 10, 2014
 
Rubio: “In order to harness the promise of a new era and build another American Century, we will need millions of new middle and higher-wage jobs.  We will face unprecedented global competition for these jobs. It is a competition we can win, but not unless we reform our current polices in Washington. Here are three avenues of reform that will help us achieve another American Century.”
 
POLICIES THAT ENCOURAGE BOLD INNOVATION
 
“If the first 14 years of this century have been any indicator, much of our groundbreaking innovation will take place in the vast, still unexplored realm of digital media, particularly with devices and services related to the Internet.”
 
• THE CHALLENGE: Internet freedom is under assault. There are currently forty-two nations known to restrict or censor their people’s online access. Many of these nations now wish to take this further by exerting control over the way the Internet is governed and regulated internationally.
• THE SOLUTION: Senator Rubio will propose a bill to make the current multi-stakeholder system the official policy of the United States. This bottoms-up model of internet governance consists of independent boards, governments, businesses, civil society and others. The United States must remain a leader in advocating for global internet freedom, and this bill ensures that we are on the record as the premier global advocate for a nongovernmental, multi-stakeholder model of internet governance. The bill also resolves the following:
o The world deserves the access to knowledge and economic benefits that the Internet provides and that are the bedrock of democratic self-governance;
o The structure of Internet governance has profound implications for competition and trade, democratization, free expression, and access to information;
o Proposals to fundamentally alter the governance and operation of the Internet would diminish freedom of expression on the Internet in favor of government control over content.
 
“We must also recognize that, here at home, too much of the digital realm is blocked by unnecessary federal restrictions. The more spectrum and bandwidth we can open up to the private sector, the more jobs it can create.”
 
• THE CHALLENGE: The demand for wireless data traffic is growing exponentially, and web traffic is expected to be thirteen times as high by 2017. But the amount of wireless spectrum currently allocated for commercial purposes and technology development is not enough to meet this demand, and the federal government controls too much wireless spectrum for its own purposes.
• THE SOLUTION: Senator Rubio will introduce legislation to increase wireless access and affordability. His bipartisan bill will reallocate spectrum currently controlled by the federal government for commercial wireless services and promote wireless deployment and innovation.
o The bill currently requires 200 MHz to be reallocated for commercial use.
o Estimates indicate this could add as much as $35 billion to our GDP and create 140,000 jobs.
 
“The federal government has a limited but important role in supporting the basic research that will make this [innovation] possible. Agencies such as NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and even the Department of Defense have historically been effective incubators of research, and can continue to serve as a pipeline for private sector innovation.”
 
• THE CHALLENGE: Our network of national labs has also long been a leading source of research in important fields. But they currently lack the ability to work with the private sector to translate this research into American jobs.
• THE SOLUTION: Rubio: “That is why I, along with Senator Chris Coons, recently filed a bill called the America INNOVATES Act that will make it easier for our labs to work together with businesses to bring groundbreaking research to fruition in the marketplace.”
o The bill will also direct the Department of Energy to implement best practices to improve operations and management across the National Lab complex; and
o Give startups more access to cutting edge facilities at the national laboratories.
 
EXPANDING THE MARKETS FOR AMERICAN PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
 
“[W]e need trade policies that make it easier for our products to reach a global network of consumers.”
 
• THE CHALLENGE: Much of the rest of the world is ahead of America in adapting and taking advantage of our modern global economy. This puts us at a completive disadvantage and causes our businesses to miss out on opportunities to expand into international markets.
• THE SOLUTION: Rubio: “With carefully crafted trade policies, we can help tens of thousands of small businesses….  That is why I support trade promotional authority for the President. And it’s why I support continued efforts to pursue regional and bilateral trade agreements – such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership with developed economies in Asia and Latin America, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with Europe.”
 
“And as we open up these avenues for trade, we will also see growing opportunities to export American energy. As hundreds of millions around the world become drivers and move into modern homes, selling some of our vast energy resources will lead to explosive growth and higher paying jobs here at home.”
 
• THE CHALLENGE:  Many of the regulations affecting energy transport on the books today are decades old. They’ve resulted in a sluggish administrative certification process, which often leads to years of litigation or – as we’ve seen with the Keystone Pipeline – a seemingly endless wait while bureaucrats in Washington fight amongst themselves.
• THE SOLUTION: Streamline the regulatory review process for natural gas pipelines so that – instead of being tied up in lengthy reviews with Washington bureaucrats – the private sector can build the infrastructure necessary to capitalize on the American energy revolution.
o Rubio also supports eliminating the barriers that prevent us from exporting our natural gas and oil abroad, such as the outdated ban on crude oil exports dating back to the 1970s.
 
MAKE AMERICA THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO INVEST
 
“Investment is what creates higher paying jobs. Someone invests money to either start a new business or grow an existing one. My father had a job at a hotel as a bartender, and my mother as a maid, not because the government had opened that hotel but because someone had the money to invest in starting that business. But in the years since, the growth of government has made this harder to do – not easier.”
 
• THE CHALLENGE: Our combined corporate tax rate is nearly 40%, while the global average is under 25%. On taxes alone, it is more expensive to invest and create jobs in America than in most other developed economies in the world.
• THE SOLUTION: Rubio: “I am currently working with Senator Mike Lee on a broad pro-family and pro-growth tax reform plan – the kind Jack Kemp was such a tremendous champion for. Our proposal will encompass both the individual and business sides, and will prioritize replacing our current corporate tax system with a model that would allow businesses to take a full and immediate deduction for all investments, which will not only result in a lower tax burden but will create an incentive to invest in job growth.”
o Post-investment profits would then be taxed at an equal rate for all entities on the business side, including S corporations, C corporations, partnerships and sole proprietors.
• This would end the crony capitalist loopholes that have long benefited large and politically connected corporations.
o The reforms would also institute a territorial system of taxation, allowing American companies to bring revenues earned overseas – and already taxed overseas – back into the American economy without being taxed again.
• The fact that the vast majority of developed economies in the world already have a territorial tax system – including all other G8 nations – has put American companies at a major disadvantage.
 
“Regulations are another impediment to investment. For free enterprise to work, it needs a reasonable regulatory system that ensures safety, protects consumers and achieves fair competition. But what we have now is a thick shell of federal regulations that restrict private sector growth.”
 
• THE CHALLENGE: Our modern, bloated regulatory system is too often used as a weapon by politicians to target industries they do not like, and as a tool by established industries and big businesses to hold back competition.
• THE SOLUTION: Establish a National Regulatory Budget (NRB). The budget would be set by an independent board, which would be tasked with estimating the cost of all existing federal regulations and setting an amount each agency’s regulations would be allowed to cost the economy.
o If the agency was imposing costs above the NRB cap, it would be required to withdraw regulations until it was below the NRB cap.
o If issuing a new regulation would place the agency over the cap, it would be prohibited from issuing the new regulation unless it withdrew other regulations so that it remained under the NRB cap.
o All new regulations would be required to receive an estimate from the independent estimating agency before they could be implemented.