Southern Illinois’ One-Term Wonder Congressman Mike Bost is eager to take credit for preventing future layoffs at Belleville Boot, proudly announcing his accomplishment to the press last Friday. But it was actually Bost’s predecessor, Democrat Bill Enyart, who began the critical process of ensuring Belleville Boot didn’t lose its small business classification.
Indeed, as the Belleville News Democrat reported, Bost is simply “continuing the work of his predecessor,” and “got involved only after” his staff pointed out the issue to him.
“Given that his politics are wholly out of step with his constituents, it follows that Mike Bost would be taking credit for other people’s work on a project critical to local workers,” said Sacha Haworth of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Mike Bost needs to resort to this sort of trickery to distract from his disastrous record of hurting hard working families.”
Background
Enyart Lobbied On Behalf Of Belleville Boots In 2014. In November 2014, Rep. Enyart sent a letter to the Small Business Association lobbying on behalf of Belleville Boots asking the administration not to revert back to the 500 employee standard for U.S. footwear manufacturers. The letter stated, “We are proud to represent the employees and owners of Belleville Boots and other small businesses that manufacture footwear in the United States. We support continuing the 1,000 employee size standard threshold of NAICS 316210 in order to support these companies. Lowering small business size standards is not in the best interest of small businesses in the current economic environment or for ensuring the lasting impact of American ingenuity.” [Enyart Comment 20141110 RE Belleville Boots, 11/10/2014]