Brickwood Galuteria, Serial Job Killer

by Liz Larson, Candidate for State Senate 12-Waikiki www.lizlarson2012.com

There are many ways a politician can harm our economy, kill job creation and make Hawaii too expensive for our seniors and working families.

Unfortunately, my opponent, Senate majority leader Brickwood Galuteria, knows all of them. It’s not simply that he favors the interests of government unions and well-heeled developers.

It’s that his legislative voting record as State Senate Majority Leader is hostile to the individuals, institutions and small businesses that make Hawaii work.

For example:

• He voted for an increase in the unemployment insurance rate which would cost every business over $400 per employee.
• He’s a major backer of legalized gambling which, apart from all the social ills that come with it, would draw tourist dollars away from the shops, restaurants and small enterprises which employ thousands of workers in our visitor industry.
• He supported the Public Land Development Corporation Act which exempts government-backed developers from the environmental laws that other groups and businesses have to follow.
• The most blatant job killing special interest legislation which Galuteria backed lately would require all Professional Employment Organizations (PEOs), regardless of size, to obtain a $1,000,000 bond in order to operate. This means that only the two largest companies in the field would be able to comply, and all their smaller competitors would be forced to fire their workers and go out of business.
• But wait, there’s more! It’s not only working people and small business that he votes against, he’s a major force behind the continuing legislative attempt to tax the pension income of our retirees.

My husband and I have spent years building a small hospitality services company in Waikiki. We are all too familiar with the taxes and regulatory burdens that make it so difficult for firms like ours to grow and create new jobs.

I want to help create a Hawaii where initiative and enterprise are encouraged; where new job opportunities flourish that allow our children to remain in Hawaii rather than being forced to migrate to the mainland to seek their future.

We are not going to change Hawaii unless we change the mindset of the people who make our laws. That’s why I’m running. To build a better Hawaii, we need more job creators not job killers.

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