Queen Creek is growing rapidly—both in terms of population and the number of businesses that we’re attracting to our area. Based on current trends, we’re projected to grow another 34 percent over the next five years. We need smart policies in place that will enable local businesses to continue creating jobs and powering a stronger regional economy to support all this expected growth.
That’s why it’s troubling to know that some lawmakers in Congress are still clamoring to push through anti-business policies that will stifle our economy and threaten local businesses. Senators Mark Kelly and Kristen Sinema should continue to stand up for Arizona businesses by opposing these efforts.
In the last year or so alone, some federal lawmakers—catering to their union donors and allies—have tried to pass legislation that would rewrite federal labor law in order to vastly increase the power of unions to force unionization on a workplace. Through a now-failed bill call the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), unions were pushing to overturn right-to-work laws here in Arizona and dozens of states across the country and saddle small-business owners with a number of new liabilities and costs.
When that bill failed because it couldn’t even garner the support of all Senate Democrats, let alone the 60 votes it would need to pass the Senate, some lawmakers even tried sneaking some of the most damaging provisions into their bloated budget bill. That includes outrageously high fines for businesses found to be in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, even for the smallest of infractions that have no impact on workers’ rights or working conditions.
Just because both of these efforts are dead on arrival doesn’t mean big union bosses and their cronies in Congress are going to stop pushing this anti-business agenda. In fact, we can expect them to come back stronger and push even harder for similar policies that chip away at the rights of workers and businesses in order to artificially inflate the dwindling membership rolls and influence of unions in the run up to the midterm elections. After all, it may be their last shot before losing one or both houses of Congress.
Senators Kelly and Sinema should help keep Arizona’s economy and communities like ours strong by opposing policies that would boost union power at the expense of local businesses and workers alike. Sen. Sinema has drawn the wrath of the extremists of her own party who have begun running attack ads against her in a desperate attempt to force their socialist agenda through Congress. We appreciate her resolute stance to preserve both our rights and our businesses, and ask Sen. Kelly to join her in a loud, unequivocal manner.
Chris Clark is president and chief executive officer of the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce.
