Dodd Would Direct Stimulus To Small Business, Entrepreneurs

EAST HARTFORD — (AP) US Senator Christopher Dodd said Monday that he will urge Congress and the Obama administration to direct as much as $125 billion in unused and repaid federal bailout money to projects that benefit small businesses and entrepreneurs, to foster a “21st Century boom.”

In an appearance at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, which supports emerging tech companies, Sen Dodd expressed support for “new ideas” and “fresh thinking” that will promote new industries and new jobs.

Having helped Wall Street, Sen Dodd, who is facing a tough reelection campaign, said it was time help Main Street.

It is a theme Democrats have been pushing in Washington, and there are many competing ideas about how to use the money. Some ideas Sen Dodd advanced Monday as part of “The Chris Dodd Jobs Agenda” match exactly those urged by other Democrats, including President Obama, such as a “cash for caulkers” program that would encourage weatherizing homes.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program — the $700 billion federal economic stimulus program created in October 2008 to help stabilize the nation’s banks and automakers — has a balance of about $200 billion, including money already repaid.

In remarks perhaps intended to echo in the executive chambers at nearby Pratt & Whitney, Sen Dodd said economic development efforts in Connecticut must not consist alone of fighting plant closures to keep existing jobs, but must foster business innovations that create new ones.

Pratt plans to begin laying off more than 1,000 Connecticut workers early next year by shutting down a Cheshire overhaul and repair plant and a smaller operation in East Hartford.

Sen Dodd, who has performed poorly in recent polls, has been criticized this year for close ties to Wall Street, and for doing too much for investment banks as senate Banking Committee chairman.

The senator, who addressed a small crowd of entrepreneurs, local politicians, well-wishers, and the press, specifically endorsed “payroll tax relief” for businesses as a way to spark hiring.

He also proposed:

*a “Connecticut Care Corps,” a network of health care professionals who would help Medicare patients manage their health after hospital stays to minimize further hospital visits.

*a temporary low-interest loan program for “otherwise healthy small businesses” that cannot find credit due to tight credit markets.

*tax incentives for businesses involved in clean-energy technology projects.

Sen Dodd was asked by a reporter about rumors that some anxious Connecticut Democratic leaders have urged him to consider stepping out of the 2010 Senate race in favor of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Sen Dodd said he had not been directly confronted by party officials. “They can’t be more anxious about it than I am.”