Obama promotes jobs plan, highway bill at impasse
Published on 09/30/2011
Lately, President Barack Obama has been crisscrossing the county in an attempt to drum-up support for his $447 billion jobs plan, which was unveiled in early September. Under the proposal, the federal government would help stimulate job growth through a mixture of spending, tax cuts and incentives, and increased taxes for rich.
"[The American Jobs Act] will lead to new jobs for construction workers, for teachers, for veterans, for first responders, young people and the long-term unemployed," said President Obama. "It will provide tax credits to companies that hire new workers, tax relief to small business owners, and tax cuts for the middle class. And here's the other thing I want the American people to know: The American Jobs Act will not add to the deficit. It will be paid for."
The Republican response to the plan has been lukewarm at best, but it has received strong backing from construction advocates.
"Should Congress fail to enact the desperately needed infrastructure investments the President proposes, too many construction workers will remain unemployed, the private sector will suffer, and taxpayers will end up paying more, later, for infrastructure," said chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen Sandherr. "Infrastructure projects don't just create construction jobs. New construction activity boosts demand for steel, concrete, construction equipment and countless other services and supplies."
According to the National Journal, the proposal calls for the following public works investments:
- $2 billion for airport-development grants;
- $1 billion for FAA air-navigation facilities;
- $27 billion for highway repair and construction;
- $4 billion for passenger rail;
- $2 billion of Amtrak repair and upgrade;
- $6 billion for buses and bus facilities;
- $5 billion for surface-transportation projects;
- $3 billion for other transit projects, $15 billion for rehabilitating vacant and foreclosed houses; and
- $7 billion to build and operate a nationwide public-safety broadband network.
In addition to the American Jobs Act, Congressional lawmakers are debating what the next surface transportation bill will look like. The House and Senate have offered vastly different plans, with the former proposing a six-year $230 billion bill while the latter proposes a two-year $55 billion measure.
Recent reports, though, indicate that House Republicans want to increase the transportation spending outlined in their proposal by $15 billion without raising the gas tax.
The existing surface transportation bill was scheduled to expire in September, but was extended by lawmakers until the end of 2011.
