Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., here at a Columbia, S.C., forum on October 26, 2019, called for expansion of urban economic opportunity in a position paper unveiled on Wednesday. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI |
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Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., unveiled an economic plan Wednesday calling for help for small businesses.
His "City 2030 Project" includes a competition to identify at least 50 small and medium-sized cities for federal "major investment" to help "vibrant regional economic hubs bring jobs and opportunity to local residents and surrounding communities." Other provisions ensure that federal funding will go to cities with persistent poverty issues, that corporate mergers will do less harm to small businesses and that women and minority business owners can share in $1.5 billion in government investment.
"By 2030, we will have a growing network of world-class cities tightly connected to the rest of the country physically (by air, rail and other forms of public transportation), digitally (by high-speed broadband), and economically (access to capital and technical assistance for small business formation and other economic development). The City 2030 Project would lift quality of life for people in the entire region through an increasing array of amenities, including better education, health care, arts, and culture," Booker's proposal says in part.
Other candidates for the Democratic nomination have offered plans to eliminate wealth inequality and reduce the power of corporations. Booker's proposal is the latest policy paper he has offered. A plan unveiled in August outlines how he would address climate change.
Wednesday's release of an economic plan comes as Booker is firmly entrenched in the middle tier of the crowded field of Democratic hopefuls for the White House. His poll numbers indicate his campaign is significantly behind those of Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. A composite of polls on Wednesday indicates that Booker has the support of 2.4 percent of survey respondents. Biden leads that composite poll with 28.6 percent.
Booker has not yet qualified to participate in December's Democratic Party candidates' debate.
