Washington, DC - Congressman John Dingell (D-MI15), co-sponsor of H.R. 4812, the Local Jobs for America Act, hailed the bill that will save and create jobs in local communities quickly in both the public and private sectors and help restore vital services that families and local communities rely on.  

“This bill, if passed into law, will create jobs in Southeast Michigan quickly and give money directly to local communities to hire the staff they need,” Dingell said.  “Declining revenues have put a pinch on state and local governments.  The stimulus package did a fine job protecting those jobs when the financial crisis was at its worst.  Unfortunately, because of the depth of the crisis it’s going to take us a while to dig out.  We need to keep teachers in the classroom, law enforcement offices on the street, and firefighters on alert.  Unless we provide this help to protect those our local leaders will have to make some tough choices.”  

The financial collapse, which started in 2008, has forced states and municipalities to make painful cuts.  This as Michigan’s unemployment rate is 14.3 percent with 700,000 people seeking work while state municipalities are overburdened.

Mayors and county officials provided valuable guidance during the work on the Local Jobs for America Act, which will provide $75 billion over two years.  Communities could use these funds to delay planned cuts or to bring back workers laid-off because of tight budgets.  Funding would go directly to eligible local communities and nonprofit community organizations to decide how best to use the funds.

The bill includes funds for 50,000 additional private-sector on-the-job training positions.  This federal investment will provide valuable retraining and valuable work experience for private employers.

Specifically, the Local Jobs for America Act invests:

• $75 billion over two years to local communities to hire vital staff
• Funding for 50,000 on-the-job private-sector training positions

The bill also includes provisions already approved by the House:

• $23 billion this year to help states support 250,000 education jobs
• $1.18 billion to put 5,500 law enforcement officers on the beat
• $500 million to retain, rehire, and hire firefighters

The National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the National Association of Counties, among others, have endorsed the legislation.

Congressman Dingell has worked aggressively to help working families in Michigan’s 15th District.  In January, he authored a 2nd edition of the Displaced Workers Guidebook, a publication devoted to helping the unemployed during this period of transition.  Mr. Dingell also recently authored the Manufacturing Modernization and Diversification Act to help manufacturing firms access the financing they need to expand, diversify, and hire new workers.  
 

 

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