Our number one economic development issue is housing. Our critical industries — health care, manufacturing, the convention business — need workers, but there is this huge bottleneck because of the lack of housing.

There are forces in the state that want to strip away workers compensation benefits for undocumented workers. Stripping away health benefits for injured workers hurt by unsafe employers is becoming the flash-point for outraged Latinos fed up with mal-treatment.

(Manufacturing) is cyclical, we are either begging for work or workers, and we're in the worker phase again. Certainly manufacturing is affected by the automotive industry but we are not dependent on the automotive industry in the small- and medium-manufacturing world here. We are struggling to find enough people that are qualified to do the work that will remain here.

This is disastrous news for British manufacturing. It is inconceivable that workers in France would be laid off on this scale.

Export volumes and manufacturing output are playing more important roles in affecting the business mood.

The vote expands health care for workers, stops large, profitable companies from shifting their health care costs onto taxpayers, and makes sure all large, profitable employers pay their fair share for health care.