House candidate calls alleged assertion in Business Journal a “misquote”
In a Sept. 21 article in the Denver Business Journal, Amy Attwood, who’s running against Brittany Pettersen for State House, was paraphrased as saying that the state government’s move in 2010 to repeal tax credits forced businesses to lay off workers.
The Journal reported:
Attwood, CFO of Clemons Construction of Littleton, emphasizes that as an officer of her family’s general-contracting company, she’s seen the negative effects state policy can have on business. The “Dirty Dozen” tax-credit cuts of 2010 stopped investment, stalled private construction and forced downsizing — and company owners are worried more rumored tax-credit cuts that could come in 2013 will freeze investment again, motivating her to prevent such moves, she said.
Asked about this, Attwood told me, “I didn’t say that.”
“The forced downsizing, I never talked about that,” she said, adding that “it was just a misquote.”
“I live business every day,” she continued. “Having a stable business climate and not having more burdens placed on us by government will help us to produce more jobs and to get our economy going.”
Business Journal reporter Ed Sealover said:
“What she told me is that her business is at five employees now, down from a high of 12 employees. I didn’t specifically ask her when that high of 12 employees was. And so maybe that’s the miscommunication. They downsized at some point. I can tell you that.”
Attwood maintains that “the dirty dozen has hurt business across the state.”
What’s her evidence to support that?
“Just talking to thousands of business owners,” she told me. “They’re going into next year not knowing what to expect, and if they elect candidates like myself whose priority is jobs and the economy, they will know what to expect. And who are the jobs producers? Private business.”