It's The Economy For House District 9A Candidates (With Video)

It was only natural that the four candidates running for a pair of seats representing District 9A in Maryland's House of Delegates would spend the entire debate answering questions about the economy.

After all, the economy has been the dominant political topic dating back to before the 2008 elections. And, well, the audience watching Tuesday's debate (sponsored by the Howard County Chamber of Commerce) largely consisted of members of the local business community.

District 9A covers a significant swath of Howard County, from Ellicott City and westward to the county lines. The incumbents are Warren Miller, a Republican from Glenwood, and Gail Bates, a Republican from Glenelg. Their challengers are Maryann Maher and Jonathan Weinstein, both Democrats from Ellicott City.

Here is a selection of their answers from Tuesday:

Bates

"We have a spending pattern that is unsustainable. ... We have a habit of making promises. It reminds me of the line, 'What do you mean I don't have money? I still have checks.' We continue to make promises that our revenues are not able to sustain.

"And revenue isn't always the answer, because right now we're at some of the top tax rates in the region. ... We need to make Maryland a more business-friendly state. We need to refine some of the regulations, stop government from being the impediment to business and allow government to be the friend of business."

Weinstein:

"The budget crisis that we're going to face in 2011 and possibly in 2012 requires difficult decisions to be made, but also difficult compromises. ... While I disagree with some of my friends on the right who want to just cut the budget without regard for the impact on our citizens, I equally disagree with my friends on the left who see business – us – as an unending steam of revenue.

"The idea I have is to hold a business summit ... The summit would bring together local chambers [of commerce], economic development authorities, as well as actual business owners. The summit would include meetings with small business owners, engaging them in a structured process to develop recommendations to improve the climate."

Miller

"Our employers need predictability before they make capital investments, before they hire employees. They need to know the economy's going to improve and the government is not going to interfere with what they're trying to do with their particular business.

"I've worked very hard to keep the state out of your businesses so you can create jobs. I've worked hard to vote against harmful tax increases, like the sales tax increase. And I've worked very hard regarding the size of our state government. We're very inefficient in some of the things we do. We certainly can spend less. All of you in your nusinesses spend less. Your families spend less. There's no reason state and county government can't spend less."

Maher

"This will be a tough budget year, as it has been in the past. We are hearing about our looming pension obligations. We will be taking a very close look at those and finding ways to fully fund them. ... On the economy and jobs, absolutely essential, we will hold the line on taxes for our businesses. We will do what we can to lessen regulations on our businesses.

"But to support our businesses, we need to support our infrastructure, we need to support education. Havening an educated workforce is key to finding skilled labor for your businesses. ... As a democrat I am a friend to business. I don't think we see business as an endless source of revenue."

Maher

"We have seen the administration now provide lines of credit to small businesses, provide them through our community banks and our state banks so that they're able to provide credit for small businesses. I completely support those initiatives."

Miller

"Government should not pick winners and choosers in the economy. Because you're politically connected and made a campaign donation to Governor O'Malley or whoever, that shouldn't entitle you to a loan from your government. 

"We need to work very hard to allow our banks, our savings and loans, and our other lending communities to have free access to capital, to not have fear about what regulators are going to do and to be able to make investments to those businesses that show promise.

"That's capitalism. That's what has worked in our nation for 200 years. We shouldn't adopt a European socialist model of government. ... Unfortunately that's where we're heading in this environment."

Weinstein

"There's a middle ground here. There are good programs in the state and federal government that provide access to capital. Those need to be improved. The federal government needs to weigh in here as well to ensure the banks aren't holding on to capital in a business-unfriendly way, which they have been.

"The best opportunities for success come from the people who drive that success, the business owners. The chamber and the Howard County Economic Development Authority have some excellent programs. I was the beneficiary of one of those programs when I started my business. There are a variety of loans that are backed by local banks here ... innovative programs that combine public and private partnerships to make that capital available to small businesses."

Bates

"One of the things that we get caught up in with the government is the government takes businesses' money. We've increased the business taxes. We've increased the unemployment rates that businesses are paying because the government wanted to expand who could get unemployment, and that's had a real detrimental effect to businesses.

"When those kinds of things g into play, businesses have difficulty expanding. Who would hire someone when the costs to hire are so great? ... There are a number of things the government has done that has just created a terrible playing field for our businesses. So I think one of the first things we need to do is get out of the way. ... If we can reduce the taxes down the board, I believe you will all be winners."

Bates and Miller: batesmiller.com

Maher: maryannmaher.com

Weinstein: voteweinstein.com