Recent times have been tough for many, including construction workers, entrepreneurs, teachers, veterans and others looking for jobs. These Washingtonians, and many more who are underemployed or just getting out of school without prospects for work, need jobs. They need them now.
To help create jobs, President Obama is asking Congress to pass a series of legislative proposals that make up the American Jobs Act (AJA). The American Jobs Act will not only put people back to work in the coming months and years, it will also make important upgrades in our infrastructure that will support tomorrow’s workers for years to come.
The AJA will generate significant economic benefit right here in Washington, where unemployment is over 9 percent. If enacted, the president’s plan cuts the payroll tax in half – to 3.1 percent – for employers on the first $5 million in wages. This would provide broad tax relief to all businesses looking to hire and grow. In Washington, it is estimated that 150,000 firms would receive an immediate payroll tax cut under the AJA.
The president’s plan would also expand payroll tax cuts. A Washington household with a median income of around $60,000 would receive a tax cut of about $1,860. This could cover a mortgage payment and take a significant bite out of a family’s monthly bills.
The president’s plan calls for a number of immediate investments that could save or create jobs across Washington and upgrade an infrastructure system that currently receives a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Of the proposed funding to modernize highways, transit, rail and aviation across the country, at least $741 million would modernize infrastructure here and support at least 9,600 jobs across the state.
Washington would also receive $365 million to improve classrooms and upgrade our schools to meet 21st-century needs; this would support as many as 4,700 jobs. Finally, Washington would receive $83 million to modernize community colleges and prepare our workforce for emerging employment opportunities that will support good, family-wage jobs for the years to come.
The president is also taking steps to speed up the transfer of federal research and development from the laboratory to the marketplace; he is also creating BusinessUSA, where businesses of all sizes that want to begin or increase exporting can access information about available federal programs. These steps will both help American businesses create new products, compete in a global economy, and create jobs here at home.
The AJA would help address our state’s $1.4 billion budget shortfall. An estimated $627 million would prevent layoffs and/or help rehire 8,500 Washington teachers, police officers and firefighters who have lost their jobs due to state budget cuts.
Finally, the AJA suggests improvements to the unemployment insurance system and job training programs that would help 133,000 long-term unemployed Washingtonians find work, prevent 46,200 from losing their benefits, and train and place 2,600 adults and 6,900 youths in jobs within key growth industries. And, by making tough budgeting decisions, the President’s plan won’t add a dime to the deficit.
These types of strategies can save and create jobs. In our work implementing the Recovery Act, we have encountered countless businesses that retained or created new jobs. For example, MudBay, an Olympia-based pet food company, grew from $1 million in revenues and 15 employees in 1999, to $24 million in revenues and 165 employees today with the help of four SBA-guaranteed loans. These loans were used to purchase the business assets of an insolvent retail chain, purchase and renovate commercial buildings, and provide working capital that allowed MudBay to expand to 17 stores.
A new infusion of well-directed and efficiently invested funding from the American Jobs Act for our infrastructure and public schools can do the same.
George Northcroft is regional administrator of the federal General Services Administration. Calvin Goings, who has served in the state Legislature and on the Pierce County Council, is regional administrator of the federal Small Business Administration.
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