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Job Creation Legislation
Pending Before Congress
HR 1000 (formerly HR 4277), the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st
Century Full Employment & Training Act, introduced
by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) with 59 cosponsors, would create a
national public service jobs program to complement job creation
efforts in the private and nonprofit sectors. Most notably, the
bill "aims to provide a job to any American that seeks work,
and to ultimately create a full employment society." HR 4277
creates a national "Full Employment and Training Trust Fund,"
funded by a small Financial Transactions Tax on stock, bond and
derivatives transactions. This would create a major new national
funding source large enough to create 2.5 to 4 million jobs in
the first two years of the program. The bill would also provide
much additional funding to support innovative job training programs,
such as one-stop career centers, YouthBuild and Job Corps, among
others. http://www.putamericatowork.net/
HR 2914, the Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream
Act, introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 51
cosponsors, would create 2.2 million jobs over two years to meet
critical needs and strengthen communities. The bill creates a
national School Improvement Corps to rehabilitate school buildings;
a Park Improvement Corps for youth between the ages of 16 and
25; a Student Job Corps for college students; a Neighborhood Heroes
Corps to hire teachers, police officers and firefighters; a Health
Corps to expand access to care in underserved neighborhoods; a
Child Care Corps; and a Community Corps to rehabilitate and weatherize
homes and promote recycling and rural conservation. The legislation
gives the unemployed priority for jobs, particularly those who
have exhausted their unemployment benefits (the “99ers”)
and veterans. The $227 billion cost of this would be paid for
through separate legislation to create higher tax brackets for
millionaires and billionaires and by eliminating subsidies for
Big Oil and tax loopholes for corporations that send American
jobs overseas. http://schakowsky.house.gov/
S 2252/HR 5727, the Rebuild America Act, introduced
by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) in the Senate and Rep. Rosa DeLauro
(D-CT) in the House, is a comprehensive bill to create jobs through
expanded federal grant programs to (1) modernize, renovate, and
repair educational facilities; (2) renovate energy systems, including
planning and assessment activities and implementation of energy
efficiency and renewable energy projects; and (3) rebuild U.S.
infrastructure. The bill proposes to invest $30 billion a year
in public infrastructure over 10 years directly creating an estimated
500,000 jobs a year. The bill would also raise the minimum wage;
provide grants to retain teachers and first responders; expand
support for early education and childcare; provide investments
in jobs training; and reform trade and tax policies. These programs
are funded through a financial transaction tax on securities and
increasing the tax bracket for those earning over $1 million from
28% to 30%. htttp://www.harkin.senate.gov/documents/pdf/4f748b726c065.pdf
HR 402, the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act
of 2011, has been introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
with 77 cosponsors. The legislation establishes a National Infrastructure
Development Bank, an independent body designed to evaluate and
finance infrastructure projects of substantial regional and national
significance. Eligible infrastructure projects would include transportation
(highways, transit, inland waterways, rail and air travel), the
environment (drinking and wastewater facilities and hazardous
waste facilities); energy (renewable energy transmission and building
efficiency); and telecommunications (broadband development). The
Bank would be capitalized with authorized appropriations of $5
billion a year for 5 years as paid in capital and would sunset
15 years after it is signed into law. A similar bill,
S. 652, the Senate BUILD Act introduced by Sen. John
Kerry (D-MA) with 10 cosponsors, would establish an American Infrastructure
Financing Authority (AIFA), a type of national infrastructure
bank, an independent body designed to evaluate and finance infrastructure
projects of substantial regional and national significance.
http://www.asce.org/
HR 494, the 21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps
Act, introduced by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), with 30
cosponsors, would establish a Civilian Conservation Corps to employ
unemployed or underemployed U.S. citizens in the construction,
maintenance and carrying on of works of a public nature, such
as forestation of U.S. and state lands, prevention of forest fires,
floods, and soil erosion, and construction and repair of National
Park System paths and trails. The bill would be funded at a level
of $16 billion a year from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year
2015. https://www.facebook.com/21stCenturyCCC
HR 724/S 591, The Security in Energy and Manufacturing
(SEAM) Act, introduced by Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ)
with 19 cosponsors and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) with 5 cosponsors,
would renew the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit program,
also known as 48C, which provides investment tax credits of 30
percent for facilities that manufacture energy equipment. Currently,
70 percent of clean energy components are manufactured outside
the United States. http://www.americanmanufacturing.org/
HR 1901, the “Saving America's Youth: the Youth
Employment Act of 2011” (SAY YEA!), introduced
by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) with 24 cosponsors, would create summer
jobs for disconnected youth. The bill would provide $6.5 billion
dollars for youth employment while offering tax incentives for
businesses that hire employees 16 to 21 years of age. The bill
funds a national public service employment program that focuses
on jobs in parks, education and rebuilding infrastructure. http://rush.house.gov
HR 1366/S 751, the National Manufacturing Strategy
Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL)
with 42 cosponsors, and Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Mark
Kirk (D-IL) in the Senate, expresses the sense of Congress that:
(1) the U.S. government should promote policies related to the
nation's manufacturing sector intended to promote growth, sustainability,
and competitiveness; create well-paying jobs, enable innovation
and investment, and support national security; and (2) the President
and Congress should act promptly to pursue policies consistent
with a National Manufacturing Strategy. The bill directs the President
to submit a national manufacturing strategy to the Congress every
four years. http://www.americanmanufacturing.org/
OTHER NOTEWORTHY PROPOSALS & BILLS
Energy Independence Plan: The Apollo Alliance
has proposed a 10-year plan to achieve U.S. energy independence
by investing in clean and renewable energy, including energy efficiency
and conservation and green vehicles. The plan would require an
annual investment of $50 billion for 10 years, but it actually
pays for itself in terms of public sector savings and avoided
costs of imported oil and fossil fuel consumption. http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/apollo
Mass Transit Plan: “Make it in America:
The Apollo Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan”
calls for sustained investments to harness transit and clean vehicle
building in the U.S., investments that would result in 3.7 million
jobs in the next six years. Of those new jobs, 600,000 alone would
be in the manufacturing sector. http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/apollo
Unemployed Workers: HR 589, the Emergency Unemployment
Compensation Expansion Act of 2011, introduced by Reps. Barbara
Lee (D-CA) and Bobby Scott (D-VA), with 92 cosponsors, would add
14 weeks of benefits to the first "tier" of Emergency
Unemployment Compensation, one of two programs that together give
the unemployed up to 73 weeks of federally-funded benefits for
workers who exhaust 26 weeks of state benefits. The full 73 weeks
are available in states with unemployment above 8.5 percent. http://american99ersunion.com/
[non-functioning site]
Compiled by Chuck Bell, National Jobs for All Coalition, October
9, 2012
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