Local capital for local biz, & state pays for infrastructure
Q: What would you do to keep small businesses in Massachusetts?
PATRICK: We’ve got to speed up the permitting and approval processes. I also think we have to do things to connect up good ideas with the capital they need to get started. Remember, it is
small and medium businesses where most jobs get created and it’s a good idea looking for capital in a neighborhood. I also think we’ve got to reinvest in our infrastructure, because if the roads and bridges are falling apart businesses will leave.
Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace
, Sep 25, 2006
Regulation at the speed of business
Consistent with good environmental stewardship, no state permit or approval process will take more than 6 months. Businesses will have one place to go to manage through necessary state approvals.
We will work with local authorities & interested parties to pre-permit development sites and anticipate infrastructure needs so that they are development-ready. I will sign into law the pending legislative proposal to stimulate the Massachusetts economy.
State funds will leverage private capital in private investment funds to provide start-up capital for new enterprises across the State, with an emphasis on small businesses.
The more jobs created by the new enterprise, particularly in distressed areas, the more favorable the terms for repayment. Sign Economic Stimulus Package into Law.
Focused on fair lending practices in Clinton Admin
Q: You faced a lot of other challenges in these two years. What are you most proud of?
A: I think we have made a tremendous amount of progress in the area of fair lending. We have had a number of very carefully targeted cases, all but one of which
have resulted in agreed resolutions.
Q: And what were the problems you’re addressing with those cases?
A: There were a couple of different kinds. One was underwriting discrimination, that is, differences in judgments among comparably qualified
individuals that seemed to be based entirely on race or ethnic background, in some cases on age or gender differences. In other cases we saw people with comparable credit backgrounds and credit histories being charged dramatically different rates for
the same lending product. The lending industry itself attributes to the attention that this administration has given these issues a record level of lending to African-American and Hispanic-American borrowers. I think that has been terrific.
Source: Elizabeth Farnsworth interview on PBS Newshour
, Jan 10, 1997
