Put America to Work Campaign

Rep. John Conyers Reintroduces Federal Bill to Create "Living Wage Jobs for All!" (HR 4277)

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:07:00 +0000

HR 4277, a revised version of HR 870, was introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) on March 28.    This transformative federal legislation 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."

To achieve that goal, Rep. Conyers and other supporters in the House would put some real dollars on the table to create new jobs for unemployed Americans. 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.

Noting that the Congress had previously committed itself to a national policy of full employment, through bills passed in 1946 and 1978, HR 4277 takes square aim at the terrible human impacts of the current high levels of unemployment.   According to the legislative finding section of the bill:

"...Persisting unemployment and underemployment have devastating financial consequences, resulting in the loss of income and spending power for families, and interfering with their ability to save and accumulate assets for a secure family life and retirement. High levels of unemployment and inadequate consumer demand also contribute to poor conditions for retail businesses, manufacturers and many other firms to grow and prosper. In the real estate sector, the Congress finds that continuing high levels of unemployment contribute to foreclosures, evictions, and commercial vacancies, undermining the quality of neighborhood and community life, and hampering prospects for economic recovery and national prosperity..."

"It is the purpose of the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act to expedite progress to fulfill the right to useful work at living wages for all persons seeking employment, as promptly as possible and at the earliest practicable date by establishing a Full Employment Trust Fund to fund and operate a national program of public service employment and to provide additional labor market opportunities to complement those offered by the existing private, public, and nonprofit sectors."

52 members of the House of Representatives had cosponsored HR 870, the previous version of this legislation, and all or most of them are expected to endorse the revised bill as well.

The Put America to Work Campaign is reaching out to organizations and individuals across the country to build grassroots support for a national jobs program, and seek additional cosponsors and Senate sponsors to create a right to a living wage job for everyone who wants to work.

Link to full text of HR 4277
Link to Bill Summary

Endorse HR 4277 or sign up to get more information

From the Bill Summary provided by Rep. Conyers office:

H.R. 4427, “The Humphrey-Hawkins 21^st Century Full Employment and Training Act”

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN CONYERS, JR.

Summary

Representative Conyers has introduced legislation that is tailored to fit our current economic realities, but which also embodies the spirit of the original Humphrey-Hawkins “Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act:” the “21^st Century Full Employment and Training Act of 2012.” The Act aims to provide a job to any American that seeks work and to, ultimately, create a full employment society.

· The Act establishes of a “Full Employment and Training Trust Fund” with two separate accounts. These two accounts will direct funding to job creation and training programs.

· If, at the beginning of each fiscal year, the Secretary determines that unemployment exists in the country’s labor force, 90 percent of the funds in each account will be automatically disbursed.

· 67 percent of all revenues deposited into the trust fund will accrue in the job creation grant program account and 33 percent of the total funds will accrue in the job training account.

Dual Job Creation Focus: Direct Jobs Grants and WIA Training Programs

· The first trust fund account will direct funds to a new innovative direct jobs program. Funds will be distributed by formula through the Department of Labor to larger cities, and to states to be passed through to smaller localities and rural areas.

o The program would allocate funds based on the CDBG formula modified to consider unemployment data. Local elected officials who are closest to our communities and needs on the ground would work with community groups and labor leaders to identify critical projects and connect workers to projects right away.

o Jobs could be located in the public sector, community-based not-for-profit organizations, and small businesses that provide community benefits.

o The Program adopts an approach to ensure immediate job creation and also allow for a longer term planning process that involves community input and a focus on education and career development.

o The program will be open to unemployed individuals who are seeking work

o Full-time positions will be available for up to 40 hours per week, for at least 12 months. They will pay comparable or prevailing wages, as well as benefits. Appropriate safeguards and strong anti-displacement protections will help to prevent substitution and ensure that workers are placed in new positions.

· The second trust fund will distribute funds to job training programs covered under the Workforce Investment Act.

o These funds will fund innovative job training resources including one-stop career centers, Youth Build, and the Job Corps.

Revenue: Taxing Wall Street Speculation to Pay for Main Street Jobs

· Revenue for the trust fund will be raised through a tax on Wall Street financial speculation, i.e. on stock and bond transactions. The financial transactions tax will cover:

o Stock transactions (tax rate will be 1/4 of 1 percent--0.25%),

o Futures contracts to buy or sell a specified commodity of standardized quality at a certain date in the future, at a market determined price (tax rate will be 0.02%),

o Swaps between two firms on certain benefits of one party's financial instrument for those of the other party's financial instrument (tax rate will be 0.02%)

o Credit default swaps where a contract is swapped through a series of payments in exchange for a payoff if a credit instrument (typically a bond or loan) goes into default (fails to pay) (tax rate will be 0.02%),

o And options, which are contracts between a buyer and a seller that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or to sell a particular asset on or before the option's expiration time, at an agreed price (at the rate of the underlying asset).

May 1 Jobs for All Convergence in NYC @ 4:00 PM

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:38:00 +0000

JOBS FOR ALL!

Dignified Work at Good Union Wages
for Everyone Who Wants a Job.

TUESDAY MAY 1
Converge: UNION SQUARE @ 4:00 PM
Meet at Southwest Corner by the Dry Fountain
to join the May 1 City-Wide March

Download flyers

Dignified work at good union wages for everyone that wants a job.

We demand a democratically-controlled public works and public service program, with direct government employment, to create 25 million new jobs at good union wages. The new jobs will be to build the facilities and provide the services needed to meet the needs of the 99%, including in education, healthcare, housing, transportation, and clean energy. The program will be funded by raising taxes on the banks, corporations and the wealthiest 1%, and by ending all U.S. wars. Employment in the program will be open to all, regardless of immigration status or criminal record.

Trabajo digno con sueldos buenos de escala sindical para cualquiera que quiera un trabajo.

Demandamos obras públicas y un programa de servicios públicos democráticamente controlados, con empleo directo del gobierno, para crear 25 millones de nuevos empleos con sueldos buenos de escala sindical. Los nuevos empleos serán para construir las instalaciones y proveer los servicios necesitados para satisfacer las necesidades del 99%, incluyendo en educación, cuidados de la salud, vivienda, transporte y energía limpia. El programa será financiado aumentando los impuestos a los bancos, las corporaciones y el 1% de los más ricos, y poniendo fin a todas las guerras por los Estados Unidos de América. Empleo en el programa estará disponible para todos, incluyendo a los inmigrantes y a las personas anteriormente encarceladas.

Endorsed by:

The 99% Direct Action Working group
of Occupy NOLA (New Orleans) Chicago Political Economy Group
Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition Local 1180 Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO National Jobs for All Coalition NJ State Industrial Union Council Occupy New Brunswick (New Jersey) Occupy the Streets Princeton
Occupy Sunset General Assembly The People's Organization for Progress Politics For A Human Community Princeton U Occupy

[list in formation]

For more information, or to endorse the demand, email: info@jobsforallny.org

Para mas información, o para apoyar la demanda,
email: info@jobsforallny.org

NY JOBS FOR ALL COMMITTEE
www.JobsForAllNY.org
Twitter: @JobsForAllNY

Note: We invite other Occupy, community and labor organizations and activists around the country to hold local convergences to highlight the Jobs for All demand. Please let us know if you are doing this! and send contact information for your group so we can stay in touch and alert the media.
Contact: info@jobsforallny.org

More than 1 in 4 homeowners 'underwater' as U.S. housing market continues to sink | Mail Online

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Bell) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:41:00 +0000

More than 1 in 4 homeowners 'underwater' as U.S. housing market continues to sink | Mail Online:

By MICHAEL ZENNIE, The Daily Mail, 11/8/11

Nearly 30 percent of American homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, according to a new report from the real estate website Zillow

Defaults and foreclosures are likely to increase as homeowners decide to walk away from their houses, rather than continuing to make mortgage payments on property they can't sell or refinance, analysts said.

Forecloses are already twice what they were this time last year and the number of homeowners who haven't made a mortgage payment in at least two months rose for the first time since 2009.

Read rest of article

Pending Job Creation Legislation (Nov 3, 2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:25:00 +0000

NATIONAL JOBS FOR ALL COALITION

P.O
Box 96, Lynbrook, NY 11563

203-856-3877 njfac@njfac.org

Pending Job Creation Legislation

Representative John Conyers (D-MI) has introduced H.R. 870, the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act with 19 cosponsors. This is a comprehensive and innovative federal and local government job creation and training bill that would create millions of new jobs for the nation’s unemployed. The Act’s Full Employment Trust Fund would provide federal funding for local community-based job creation and training initiatives until full employment is reached in the United States. The Act is deficit neutral and fully funded through a modest tax on Wall Street stock and bond transactions.

http://putamericatowork.net/

HR 2914, the Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act, introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky and 48 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 the Act 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/

HR 402, the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2011, has been introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) with 70 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 (including highways, transit, inland waterways, rail and air travel), the environment (including development of drinking and wastewater facilities); energy (including renewable energy transmission and building efficiency); and telecommunications and 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 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 21^st Century Civilian Conservation Corps Act, introduced by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) with 19 cosponsors, would establish a Civilian Conservation Corps to employ unemployed or underemployed U.S. citizens in the construction, maintenance, and improvement projects related to parks and natural resources, including 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.

http://www.facebook.com/21stCenturyCCC

HR 724/S 591, The Security in Energy and Manufacturing (SEAM) Act, introduced by Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ) with 17 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% for facilities that manufacture energy equipment. Currently, 70 percent of clean energy components are manufactured outside of the United States.
http://www.americanmanufacturing.org/
HR 11, the Build America Bonds to Create Jobs Now Act, introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) with 18 cosponsors to spur job creation here at home. These bonds have been an effective tool in job creation, having helped finance $181 billion in critical infrastructure projects, such as schools, hospitals, roads, courthouses, public safety facilities and equipment, water and sewer projects, environmental projects, energy projects, public buildings, government housing projects and public utilities. http://www.democraticleader.gov/floor?id=0423

HR 1901, the “Saving America's Youth: the Youth Employment Act of 2011” (SAY YEA!), introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) with 22 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 ages 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. According to Rep. Rush, “…the unemployment rate for Americans between the ages of 16 and 19 had reached a Depression-era level of 25.5 percent. That percentage, which translated into an estimated 1.5 million unemployed youth, was the highest level it had ever been in the 50-plus years that the U. S. Labor Department has been tracking those records.”

http://rush.house.gov/
HR 1366/S 751, the National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) with 41 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 (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 get the

U.S.

to 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 each year for 10 years, but it wouldactually pay for itself through public sector savings and avoiding costs of imported oil and fossil fuel consumption.

http://www.apolloalliance.org/

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 here in the U.S., investments that would result in 3.7 million jobs in the next 6 years. Of those new jobs, 600,000 alone would be in the manufacturing sector.

http://www.apolloalliance.org/

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 89 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%. http://american99ersunion.com/

Compiled by Chuck Bell, National Jobs for All Coalition, November 3, 2011

The American Dream Movement: It's Time for Solutions!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:28:00 +0000

Cross-posted from Huffington Post

It's Time for the Solutions: Hundreds of Thousands Support Big Plan to Fix Economy

by Van Jones, President of RebuildtheDream.com and author of NY Times bestseller, "The Green-Collar Economy"

America and the world owe a great debt to Occupy Wall Street for making the problem of economic inequality impossible to ignore. The tiny spark that began in Zuccotti Park just six weeks ago has triggered a major shift in the national dialogue on inequality, our economy and our democracy.

Now it's time to begin a conversation about solutions -- solutions big enough to fit the scale of the problems that Occupy Wall Street has highlighted. Fortunately, the American Dream Movement spent this last summer taking on this very challenge. We are a vast, growing network of progressive organizations and individuals.

We are fighting to renew the American Dream and return our country to the principle of liberty and justice, for ALL (not for some).

We launched in June 2011, with the support of more than 70 national organizations, including MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood, Center for Community Change, Campaign for America's Future, SEIU and AFL-CIO. Since then, more than half a million people have joined our ranks and become members on www.RebuildtheDream.com. We now have membership in every congressional district of the country.

In July, the American Dream Movement created an inclusive process to forge a jobs agenda that would put the country back to work without hurting essential programs like Medicare and Medicaid. More than 131,000 people got involved, both online and in person (NOTE: That is nearly three times the number of people who helped craft the Tea Party's famous"Contract from America.") Participants generated more than 20,000 ideas, then rated and ranked them to identify the best ones.

The outcome was our 10-point program: the Contract for the American Dream.

The common sense remedies in the Contract are based on the fundamental idea that a functioning U.S. economy requires opportunity for all and responsibility from all. Here are the ten items:

I. Invest in America's Infrastructure - Rebuild our crumbling bridges, dams, levees, ports, water and sewer lines, railways, roads, and public transit. Invest in high-speed Internet and a modern, energy-saving electric grid. These investments will create good jobs and rebuild America.
II. Create 21st Century Energy Jobs - Invest in American businesses that can power our country with innovative technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal systems, hybrid and electric cars, and next-generation batteries. And put Americans to work making our homes and buildings energy efficient. We can create good, green jobs in America, address the climate crisis, and build the clean energy economy.
III. Invest in Public Education - Provide universal access to early childhood education, make school funding equitable, invest in high-quality teachers, and build safe, well-equipped school buildings for our students. This is critical for our future and can create badly needed jobs now.
IV. Offer Medicare for All - Expand Medicare so it's available to all Americans, and reform it to provide even more cost-effective, quality care. The Affordable Care Act is a start, but it's not enough. We can save trillions of dollars by joining every other industrialized country -- paying much less for health care while getting the same or better results.
V. Make Work Pay - Grant all Americans the right to fair minimum and living wages, to organize and collectively bargain, to enjoy equal opportunity, and to earn equal pay for equal work. Corporate assaults on these rights must be outlawed.
VI. Secure Social Security - Keep Social Security sound, and strengthen the retirement, disability, and survivors' protections Americans earn through their hard work. Pay for it by removing the cap on the Social Security tax, so that upper-income people pay into Social Security on all they make, just like the rest of us.
VII. Return to Fairer Tax Rates - End, once and for all, the Bush-era tax giveaways for the rich, which the rest of us -- or our kids -- must pay eventually. Outlaw corporate tax havens and tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. And with millionaires and billionaires taking a growing share of our country's wealth, let's add new tax brackets for those making more than $1 million annually.
VIII. End the Wars and Invest at Home - Bring home our troops. They've done everything asked of them, and it's time to bring them home to good jobs. We're sending $3 billion each week overseas that we should be investing to rebuild America.
IX. Tax Wall Street Speculation - Make Wall Street pay. A tiny fee of a twentieth of 1% on each Wall Street trade could raise tens of billions of dollars annually with little impact on actual investment. This would reduce speculation, "flash trading," and outrageous bankers' bonuses.
X. Strengthen Democracy - Hold clean, fair elections -- where no one's right to vote can be taken away, and where money doesn't buy you your own member of Congress. We must ban anonymous political influence, slam shut the lobbyists' revolving door in D.C., and publicly finance elections. Immigrants who want to join in our democracy deserve a clear path to citizenship. We must stop giving corporations the rights of people when it comes to our elections. And we must ensure our judiciary's respect for the Constitution.

Many elements of the Contract are already under consideration in various forms in Congress, even as we speak. The idea of taxing Wall Street speculation at this moment in history should be a no-brainer. Let's bring all ten points through the political system.

There's always a danger that even mass protest will not result in concrete policy change or real-life improvements for ordinary Americans. The challenge we face is critical: It is time to turn this unleashed energy into power.

We must go beyond changing the conversation on inequality to also changing the conditions under which millions of Americans are suffering economically. Let's use this pivotal moment in history to make America work for the 99%

Follow Van Jones on Twitter: www.twitter.com/VanJones68

Saturday, Sept 10 -- NYC Labor Day Parade Information

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:04:00 +0000

A National Jobs for All Coalition contigent has been invited to march with CWA Local 1180 at the New York City Labor Day Parade, which takes place on Saturday September 10.

We will meet at 10:45 AM on Saturday, September 10 on 45th Street between 5th Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue.

We understand that Rekindling Reform will also be marching with the CWA 1180 group.

PS If you are unemployed person and you want to get in touch with the Workers' Defense League, here is their contact information:

Workers Defense League

275 7th Avenue

New York, NY 10001-6708(212) 627-1931

Welcome WBAI "City Watch" Listeners!

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:43:00 +0000

If you're looking to get involved in organizing to end the jobs crisis, you've come to the right place!

Please endorse HR 870 here (either as an individual or an organization!) so we build momentum and keep in touch with you. See our fact sheet on HR 870. Please contact members of the House of Representatives that represent you and urge them to cosponsor the bill.

For information on Rep. Jan Schakowsky's Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act, click here. As of right now, there is no bill number for Rep. Schakowsky's bill, so check back on her web site after Labor Day. Click here to read more about HR 402, Rep. Rosa DeLauro's bill to create a National Infrastructure Bank

Our thanks to Mark Dunlea and Bich Ha Pham of WBAI City Watch for their efforts to inform the public about the jobs crisis and progressive solutions.

Help Organize A National Campaign to Enact HR 870,

The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act

Rep. John Conyers has proposed new legislation that would create a national jobs

program, funded by a financial speculation tax on Wall Street stock, bond and swaps

and derivative trading. The bill, HR 870, will be reintroduced in the next few weeks

with additional provisions emphasizing the right of all workers to a good job, and

calling for the federal government to “create living wage jobs for all at the earliest

practicable date.”

TAKE ACTION NOW FOR A NATIONAL JOBS PROGRAM & FULL EMPLOYMENT!!

1) Endorse HR 870 at www.PutAmericaToWork.net

2) Contact House Members and Urge Them to Cosponsor the Bill.

Urge Senators to Introduce a Companion Bill.

3) Pass a Local Resolution in your city or county or state or Labor Council about

the unemployment crisis and in support of HR 870 -- visit

www.PutAmericaToWork.net to download sample resolutions.

4) Hold a “First Friday” or “First Saturday” vigil or demonstration in your

community to protest the high unemployment rate, and demand a national

jobs program. (The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics releases new

unemployment statistics on the First Friday of every month, so you can

piggyback on local coverage of the unemployment crisis.) Develop a local

coalition/network in support of a national jobs program. Contact Logan

Martinez of NJFAC for more information. Loganmartinez2u@yahoo.com or

(937) 260-2591.

5) Organize a Local Community Forum or “Citizens’ Hearings about the

Unemployment Crisis.” Invite unemployed and underemployed workers to

speak about their experiences. Invite local & national experts to talk about

the human costs of unemployment, and the need for a national jobs program.

More info: www.PutAmericaToWork.net

Chuck Bell, Coordinator (914) 830-0639, cbell [at] igc.org

National Jobs For All Coalition, P.O Box 96, Lynbrook, NY 11563

Phone: 203-856-3877 • Web: www.njfac.org • E-mail: njfac [at] njfac.org

Congressional Black Caucus "For the People" Jobs Initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:06:00 +0000

On Thursday, August 18, the Congressional Black Caucus held a "For the People" Jobs Initiative town hall meeting in Atlanta focusing on job creation efforts and improving the economy. Among the topics they addressed were public and private cooperation to create jobs, federal spending programs, recent debate on the federal debt and deficit reduction, as well as programs designed to benefit African Americans. This event was part of the Congressional Black Caucus' "For the People" jobs initiative that included nationwide jobs fairs, workshops and town hall meetings.

Watch the video of the Atlanta town hall meeting on C-SPAN

The Congressional Black Caucus Launches “For the People” Jobs Initiative H.Res.348

Job Fairs and Town Halls around the Country

MSNBC Contributor and theGrio.com Correspondent Jeff Johnson will moderate the CBC town halls in Detroit (August 16) and Los Angeles (August 30-31). All the town halls, including Atlanta (August 18) and Miami (August 22-23), will be streamed live on theGrio.com

DETROIT — August 16
REGISTER
Congressmen John Conyers &
Hansen Clarke, Host
WC3/ Wayne County Community College
(Downtown Campus)
1001 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI, 48211
Job Fair from: 9:00am – 5:30pm
Town Hall: 6:00pm -8:00pm

ATLANTA — August 18
REGISTER
Congressman John Lewis and Hank Johnson, Hosts
Atlanta Technical College
1560 Metropolitan Pkwy SW
Atlanta, GA 30310
Job Fair: 9:00am – 5:30pm
Town Hall: 6:00pm -8pm

MIAMI — August 22-23

REGISTER
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, Host
Mt. Herman A.M.E. Church (town hall)
17800 Northwest 25th Avenue
James L. Knight Center, Downtown Miami (job fair)
400 SE 2nd Avenue # 3, Miami, FL 33131-2116
Town Hall: August 22, 6:00pm -8:00pm
Job Fair: August 23, 9:00am – 5:30pm

LOS ANGELES — August 30-31

REGISTER
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Host
Crenshaw Christian Center
West 7901 S. Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90044
Town Hall: August 30, 6:00pm -8:00pm
Job Fair: August 31, 9:00am – 5:00pm

Washington, DC – Today, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) officially announces its “For the People” Jobs Initiative, which includes nationwide job fairs and town hall meetings. As the reported African American unemployment rate hovers around 16.2%, Members of the CBC are standing together to address the joblessness crisis. Most recently, the CBC Members unanimously introduced the Congressional Black Caucus ‘For the People’ Jobs Initiative Resolution (H. Res. 348) to encourage the House of Representatives to immediately consider and pass critical jobs legislation to address the growing jobs crisis throughout America. Additionally, CBC Members have introduced over 40 job creation bills since the beginning of the 112^th Congress. To celebrate our 40-year history, the CBC has gone well beyond their normal course of duty in legislating to go into communities all over the country to provide immediate, tangible results to address the jobs crisis by providing jobs to communities that need them most.

This August, thousands will gather for town hall meetings, job fairs, and job readiness workshops and seminars as a part of the Congressional Black Caucus’s For the People Jobs Initiative.

“As reported African American unemployment remains stagnant at 16.2%, it has become clear that it is time for immediate and real action to provide hard working Americans with real economic opportunity,” said Chairman Emanuel Cleaver.

“Too many Americans are struggling to get back on their feet and as members of the Congressional Black Caucus it is our duty to ensure their voices are heard, and needs are met,” said Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the CBC Jobs Committee.

The needs of our citizens have been ignored for far too long. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are prepared to work in a bipartisan fashion to do what is necessary to bring this nation out of economic turmoil and the For the People Jobs Initiative is the first step to making that happen. Every American has the right to be gainfully employed and CBC Members will not rest until there is equality in access to jobs.

For more information, visit the CBC web site

Emergency Jobs to Restore The American Dream Act

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:58:00 +0000

Jan Schakowsky has introduced an emergency jobs bill to create over 2 million jobs. You can help! Please write to your Representative and urge him/her to cosponsor the Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act.

Cross-posted from Rep. Jan Schakowsky's web site:

Schakowsky Announces Bill to Create 2.2 Million Jobs

“Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act”

Estimated to Lower Unemployment Rate by 1.3%

CHICAGO, IL (August 10, 2011) – Today Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of President Obama’s 18-member Fiscal Commission, announced she will introduce the Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act, a cost-effective plan to put over 2 million people to work for two years.

The time has come for Congress to focus like a laser on the most pressing crisis facing our country – the jobs crisis. With extended unemployment benefits scheduled to expire at the end of this year, 13.9 million people remain out of work. The average worker who is unemployed has been searching for a job for more than nine months and recent reports reveal that private sector employers largely refuse to hire those currently jobless. An additional 8.4 million are working part time because they cannot find a full-time job. In June 2007, 63 percent of adults were employed, now the percentage is 58.2 percent. Despite reports of a Congress immobilized and unable to address the jobs crisis– Congress can and must do something today.

“It begins with this simple idea: If we want to create jobs, then create jobs. I’m not talking about “incentivizing” companies in the hopes they’ll hire someone, or cutting taxes for the so-called job creators who have done nothing of the sort. My plan creates actual new jobs,” said Rep. Schakowsky. “The worst deficit this country faces, isn’t the budget deficit. It’s the jobs deficit. We need to get our people and our economy moving again.”

If enacted, the legislation would create 2.2 million jobs that will meet critical needs to improve and strengthen communities:

•The School Improvement Corps would create 400,000 construction and 250,000 maintenance jobs by funding positions created by public school districts to do needed school rehabilitation improvements.

•The Park Improvement Corps would create 100,000 jobs for youth between the ages of 16 and 25 through new funding to the Department of the Interior and the USDA Forest Service’s Public Lands Corps Act. Young people would work on conservation projects on public lands include restoration and rehabilitation of natural, cultural, and historic resources.

•The Student Jobs Corps would creates 250,000 more part-time, work study jobs for eligible college students through new funding for the Federal Work Study Program.

•The Neighborhood Heroes Corps would hire 300,000 teachers, 40,000 new police officers, and 12,000 firefighters.

•The Health Corps would hire at least 40,000 health care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and health care workers to expand access in underserved rural and urban areas.

•The Child Care Corps would create 100,000 jobs in early childhood care and education through additional funding for Early Head Start.

•The Community Corps would hire 750,000 individuals to do needed work in our communities, including housing rehab, weatherization, 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 bill allocates a fair distribution of funding and jobs among states, with targeting based on high unemployment and need. The bill also ensures that jobs do not undercut the rights of other workers, lower wages, displace current workers or take business from small/local businesses.

The $227 billion cost of the bill ($113.5 billion over each of two years) can be fully paid for through separate legislation such as Rep. Schakowsky’s Fairness in Taxation Act, which creates higher tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, and eliminating subsidies for Big Oil and tax loop holes for corporations that send American jobs overseas.

Click here for more information

###

CONTACT: Adjoa Adofo; 202.225.2111, adjoa.adofo [at] mail.house.gov

Nearly 29 Million People Need Jobs in the U.S.!

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:45:00 +0000

JULY 2011 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT: 9.1% [Analysis]A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 14.6
million, and the jobless rate was 9.5 percent. [BLS]

White	8.1%
African American	15.9%
Hispanic	11.3%
Asian**	7.7%
Persons with a disability **	16.8%
Men 20 years and over	9.0%
Women 20 years and over	7.9%
Teens (16-19 years)	25.0%
Black teens	39.2%
Officially unemployed	13.9 million

HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT

Working part-time because can't find a full-time job:	8.4 million
People who want jobs but are not looking so are not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.8 million** searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available for work during the reference week.)	6.6 million
Total: 28.9 million (18.1% of the labor force)

Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

**Not seasonally adjusted.

Cross posted from www.njfac.org

A bold, new U.S. jobs bill would stop a double-dip recession - KansasCity.com

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Bell) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:30:00 +0000

A bold, new U.S. jobs bill would stop a double-dip recession - KansasCity.com:

by Robert Reich, 8/9/11

"...We’re now poised on the edge of a double-dip — and have our hands tied behind our back because of a phony debt crisis and a misleading view that the first stimulus failed.":

"The hope: voters tell their members of Congress — now on recess — to stop obsessing about future budget deficits and get to work on the real crisis of unemployment, falling wages and no growth. Demand a bold jobs bill to restart the economy."

Read rest of article

New York City Council Introduces Resolution in Support of Full Employment and Living Wage Jobs for All!

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:46:00 +0000

The New York City Council Committee on Community Development is now considering a resolution in support of HR 870, the 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). The resolution was introduced by Council Members Brad Lander, Gale Brewer, Margaret Chin, Daniel Dromm, Letitia James, Deborah Rose and Jumane Williams.

The Put America to Work Campaign thanks these Council Members for their vision and leadership on this issue! And we thank Mark Dunlea of Hunger Action Network of NY State for helping to get the resolution introduced. We urge other cities and communities to pass similar resolutions to draw attention to the unemployment crisis and build support for a national jobs program.

Download a copy of the Draft New York City Resolution.

You can also obtain a Local Jobs Resolution Toolkit on how to pass a local jobs resolution at Cities for Progress. Additional language that may be helpful for local resolutions can be found in the draft The Drive For Decent Work jobs resolution developed in 2008 -- but please update the text for your local situation, and add a current reference to HR 870. Contact us if you'd like help developing a local resolution.

The text of the NYC draft resolution follows below.

Res. No. 956

Resolution calling upon Congress to pass and the President to sign The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, H.R. 870.

By Council Members Lander, Brewer, Chin, Dromm, James, Rose and Williams

Whereas, Millions of people in the United States are unemployed in good times as well as bad, and many more work without living wages, comprehensive health insurance and retirement benefits; and

Whereas, The official unemployment rate leaves out the "hidden unemployed" - who want full-time work but are forced to work part-time or who want a job but are not currently looking for reasons such as lack of child care or transportation; and

Whereas, In May 2011, an estimated 13.9 million workers were officially unemployed (9.1%), an additional 11.3 million were among the "hidden unemployed," bringing the actual jobless rate to roughly 16.5%; and

Whereas, The Full-Employment and Balanced Growth Act was signed into law by President Carter in 1978, thus becoming the nation's first attempt at establishing an official Federal full-employment policy; and

Whereas, The original intent of the legislation's sponsors, Senator Hubert Humphrey and Representative Augustus Hawkins, was to create a full-employment society brought about by direct hiring policies that would obligate the government to create jobs if the private sector was unable to create a fully employed society through gradual economic growth after ten years; and

Whereas, This legislation was supported by both civil rights and labor organizations who viewed the bill as a way to address the economic hardships being felt by low-income Americans; and

Whereas, The intent of the Act's sponsors was weakened when the bill reached the United States Senate prior to it being signed into law; and

Whereas, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. has introduced legislation that is tailored to fit the current state of the nation's economy and seeks to embody the spirit of the original Humphrey-Hawkins legislation; and

Whereas, H.R. 870 known as the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act seeks to establish a National Full Employment Trust Fund to create employment opportunities; and

Whereas, This trust fund would have two separate accounts directing the allocation of monies towards job creation and training programs; and

Whereas, The first trust fund account would direct funds to a jobs program, allocating funds based on a Community Development Block Grant formula that considers unemployment data, with the purpose of creating employment opportunities in activities designed to address community needs for eligible individuals who either are unemployed for at least twenty-six (26) weeks or unemployed for at least thirty (30) days and low-income; and

Whereas, The second trust fund account would distribute funds to job training programs covered under the Workforce Investment Act; and

Whereas, Although New York City's economy has improved at a faster rate than both the state and the nation, state and federal budget cuts along with a slowly recovering national economy could keep the City's level of unemployment high for some time; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon Congress to pass and the President to sign The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, H.R. 870.

Jobs and Economic Justice Tour Launched

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0000

cross-posted from OurFuture.org

by Isaiah J. Poole, 3/10/11

"...The Progressive Caucus is launching a "jobs and economic justice" tour around the country, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., announced at the Summit on Jobs and America's Future.

The tour is designed to promote an alternative to the "so be it" agenda of congressional conservatives and their corporate backers that Ellison says is attacking the fundamental underpinnings of the middle class — and ultimately the principles of American democracy.

Ellison was at a session of the jobs summit that included Rep. George Miller, who with Ellison last year campaigned for a $100 billion public jobs bill that if enacted would have created an additional 1 million jobs, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is launching his "America Fast Forward" initiative to promote new transportation investment.

Ellison said that the jobs and economic tour will promote a three-part agenda that he said was designed to be inspiring and a political winner:

• "Let's rebuild our country," creating infrastructure jobs that can't be exported, using steel and other raw materials from America.
• A "trade agenda that is about fair trade, not just about moving jobs out of the country."

• "An affirmation of public jobs and public employees."

Read rest of post

Conyers Introduces Deficit Neutral Full Employment and Training Bill

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Washington DC- Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) today introduced H.R. 870, the “Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act,” a comprehensive and innovative federal and local government job creation and training bill that would create millions of new jobs for the nation’s unemployed. Local jobs would be created through a partnership between the Department of Labor, state, and local governments, non-profit community organizations, and small businesses. Under the Act, jobs would be created in the fields of construction, infrastructure repairs, green jobs, education, health care, and neighborhood renovation. The Act’s Full Employment Trust Fund would provide federal funding for local community-based job creation and training initiatives until full employment is reached in the United States. The Act is deficit neutral and fully funded through a modest tax on Wall Street stock and bond transactions.

“Today, there are millions of Americans who want a job, but can’t find one,” said Conyers. “The inability to find meaningful and sustainable work strips our fellow citizens of their basic right to have access to food, housing, health care, freedom of movement, and perhaps, most importantly, the ability to pursue life with a sense of dignity and meaning. High levels of unemployment are unacceptable and immoral in the wealthiest nation in the world. Thus, I believe it is critical that the federal government empower states, local governments, non-profits, and small businesses to create jobs during an economic downturn.

My “Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act” would allow local government officials to work with community leaders to come up with an effective job creation program, based on each community’s respective needs—be it improvements in infrastructure, housing, energy efficiency, education, or health care. The private sector will also benefit if millions of new jobs are created through improvements in our nation’s aging and crumbling infrastructure. New orders for brick, concrete, steel, aluminum, and plastics mean new jobs in America’s plants and factories and a rebirth of American manufacturing.

Lastly, because we exist in a period when concerns about government debt loom large in many minds, my legislation will be fully funded by a tax on Wall Street speculation and will not add a dime to the federal debt. Wall Street was responsible for the financial crisis that began in 2008 and continues to affect us today. Having already received significant assistance from the federal government, it is only fair that Wall Street now pay Main Street back by helping put America back to work.”

Link to Rep. Conyers' 3/2 Press Release

Conyers Calls On President Obama to Enact A Bold And Effective Emergency Job Creation Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 11:41:00 +0000

(Washington, DC - 1/25/10) - Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) called on President Obama to boldly and decisively address national job creation and further economic recovery initiatives in this evening’s State of the Union Address.

]“President Obama must now provide bold and decisive leadership and move this nation forward with an effective and targeted national job creation program that will put millions of unemployed Americans in my district in the rest of the country back to work,” Conyers said. “I encourage him to lead the country in investing in more initiatives that spur and invest in creation, innovation, and infrastructure. We cannot allow politics to brush these major issues under the rug any longer. We must face them and fix them.”

Congressman Conyers urges President Obama to consider the following action items:

Create a national job creation program that will put millions of unemployed Americans back to work. For example, I propose we enact the Humphrey Hawkins Bill which was first created in 1978 and established a federal government-run jobs program.
Organize a series of national town hall meetings across the nation to assess the unemployment crisis in America and hear from the American people about what they think the federal government should do to create millions of jobs.
Call for a series of national, regional, state, & local job creation conferences in order to seek input from business leaders, local & state elected officials, economists, faith leaders, and ordinary citizens about their ideas on how to put people back to work.
Re-examine the impact of NAFTA and other trade agreements, and consider renegotiating trade agreements that are more favorable to the U.S. We need to see exactly where we lost our manufacturing jobs, and see if we can replace these manufacturing jobs with new green manufacturing or infrastructure development jobs.
Push for the development of light rail and monorails in cities where there are severe traffic and pollution problems, and where citizens are unable to get to and from work, from airport terminals, or utilize public transportation because it does not exist in their cities or towns but is desperately needed.
Help secure an extension in unemployment insurance benefits for the 99er’s, updating our country’s unemployment insurance program.
Support “Right to Rent” housing legislation to help American families especially in Hardest-Hit areas to remain in their homes.
Consider a one-year mortgage foreclosure moratorium until there is a more effective solution to housing crisis that will affect 2-3 million home owners next year.
Consider creating a HUD funded program where transitional apartments are built by nonprofit housing developers, public housing, and for-profit housing developers to house the new unemployed.

Barbara Lee, Bobby Scott Introduce HR 589 to Assist Long-Term Unemployed

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:47:00 +0000

Cross-posted from Huffington Post

by Arthur Delancy

12/20/10

WASHINGTON — Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Bobby Scott (Va.) introduced legislation Friday that would provide additional assistance to "99ers" — people who've exhausted 99 weeks of unemployment benefits without finding work.

"The economic downturn has been devastating for all of us — however, it has been particularly devastating for those who for the past two years have been out of work known as the 99ers," said Lee in a statement Friday, after the president signed legislation preserving the 99 weeks for an additional 13 months and tax cuts for the rich for two years.

"While the tax plan that was signed by the President today will provided additional unemployment benefits for many Americans, the 99ers were left out of that bill," Lee said. "That is why it is important that we put in place a safety net for those still looking for work. We cannot and will not allow our fellow Americans to fall by the wayside. Congressman Scott and I plan to continue to push for passage of this legislation because it is simply the right thing to do."

The Lee-Scott bill (HR 589) 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.

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) introduced similar legislation in September. She told HuffPost she would advocate for additional weeks of benefits after the existing 99 weeks had been preserved.

The measures are unlikely to become law in the face of Republican opposition to deficit spending, even though several GOP lawmakers have unintentionally voiced support for giving the unemployed additional weeks of benefits.

"We're pleased to see more members of congress concerned about people exhausting all their benefits," said Judy Conti of the National Employment Law Project, which lobbied aggressively for the 13-month reauthorization. "These are the hardest hit victims of the recession and we hope that in the new year Congress will finally take some action to address their plight and work on targeted job creation efforts for them."

There's no reliable estimate of how many people have been through 99 weeks of benefits and still haven't found work.

Unemployment benefits expire for thousands of American workers

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:35:00 +0000

In this powerful new video, unemployed workers tell their stories and implore you to contact your members of Congress now. Watch. Listen. Call.

Call your Senators at 1-888-340-6522. Or click-to-call here. Tell them to support the full-year, emergency renewal of federal unemployment insurance programs.

Cross posted from www.UnemployedWorkers.org

Conyers' Deficit-Neutral Jobs Bill

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:18:00 +0000

Conyers' Deficit-Neutral Jobs Bill
cross-posted from Open Congress blog

by Donny Shaw (July 14, 2010)

If I had to pick the top three factors in U.S. politics right now I would say the unemployment situation, concern about the deficit, and distrust of the financial industry. Remarkably, Rep. John Conyers [D, MI-14] (pictured) has introduced a bill this session that seems to fall on the popular side of all three of these issues. It would be deficit neutral, dramatically reduce unemployment, and levy a new tax on the riskiest Wall Street transactions.

The bill is called the 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act. Here’s how it would work.

First, the bill sets a series of binding unemployment-rate targets that over a ten-year period would bring the rate down to 4%. Here are the targets:

9% unemployment after 6 months of the bill being enacted
8% unemployment after 2 years
6% unemployment after 5 years
5% unemployment after 8 years
4% unemployment after 4 years

If, according to data from the Labor Department, any of the above targets are not met, money would be automatically disbursed from a new “National Full Employment Trust Fund” that would be set up under the bill to fund new job positions around the country. That money would go primarily to city governments in areas with exceptionally high unemployment rates, but some of it would also go to state governments (30%) and indian tribes (5%). Those funds would then be disbursed to public and private projects that directly address the needs of their communites.

Examples spelled out in the bill include repairing schools, revitalizing abandoned property, expanding emergency food programs, and increasing staff at programs that help disadvantaged youth.

All jobs created under the bill would have to be designed to last for 12 months or more at at least 30 hours per week. They would also have to meet some minimum pay requirements to ensure that employees funded by the bill earn rates equivalent to regular employees.

You’re probably wondering how anything like this could possibly be deficit neutral. Well, the answer is that the bill calls for a new financial transactions tax to be levied on companies that engage in high-risk trades. Stock trades, futures contracts and credit default swaps would all be included. More exotic transactions would likely be taxed several times over under the bill, and the impact on short-term, risky speculation would be more significant than that on long-term investing and hedging. The idea behind this financial transaction tax is twofold — it raises money to fund the jobs trust fund and it discourages financial companies from getting involved in too much short-term speculation.

This bill has not moved an inch in the legislative process. It was introduced on May 4, 2010 and has been stuck in committee since. But that’s really no surprise. Congress right now can hardly pass a 6-month extension of unemployment insurance, let alone a massive new jobs program. And they can’t pass a financial reform bill that contains a relatively modest $19-blilion-over-ten-years tax on big banks and hedge funds, let alone a sweeping financial transactions tax that could cost the industry as much as $100 billion per year. But support for the bank tax is steadily growing — see the work of Dean Baker and Bankster USA — and the unemployment situation is set to take a turn for the worst, so a legislative package like this may look different to us in the coming months and years.

Read HR 5204

Ripple effects of unemployment on American families

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:08:00 +0000

Video on the impact of unemployment on American Families from Unnatural Causes series (California Newsreel)

Unemployment Web Exclusive from Ken Hebert on Vimeo.

Dean Baker: Political Impasse Prolongs Grim Forecast For Job Creation

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:07:00 +0000

More GRITtv

What's the future for America's workers? If Republicans succeed in taking over the Congress, many suggest cutting or eliminating minimum wage, slashing employee benefits, staving off union organizing. A recent New York Times headline reports “Across the U.S., Long Recovery Looks Like Recession” and the job figures this month reported losses in public sector jobs and meager increase in private sector employment. So what's a nation to do in the current political climate? We check in with GRITtv Economics correspondent, Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic Policy & Research and author of False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy.

Other Priority Federal Job Creation Legislation

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Other priority job creation legislation introduced in the 111th Congress includes the following bills. The Put America to Work Campaign thanks the sponsors of these bills for their leadership, and also expresses our appreciation to all members of Congress who are fighting to pass comprehensive job creation legislation.

1) Local Jobs for America Act (H.R.4812), Sponsor: Rep Miller, George [CA-7] (introduced 3/10/2010)

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 bill provides $75 billion for 750,000 jobs providing needed local services:

-- $52.5 billion directly to communities with at least 50,000 residents – Mayors, County Officials and Governors would submit a statement to the need for the specific positions to the Department of Labor. The department would then distribute funding to communities based on the Community Development Block Grant formula.

Half of the funding will go to positions that would be eliminated due to ongoing budget shortfalls. Up to 25 percent of the funding can go to non-profit community organizations that provide services not customarily provided by local government employees. The remaining 25 percent may be used for creation of new jobs in local government.

-- $22.5 billion directly to governors to distribute to communities with fewer than 50,000 residents – Job creation funding will sent to towns, counties, or private non-profits outside of those communities eligible for the funding above. Local governments will apply to the governor for the funding.

Like support to larger communities, half of the funding may be spent on retention of positions slated for elimination, up to 25 percent of the funding can go to non-profit community organizations that provide services not customarily provided by local government employees. The remaining 25 percent may be used for creation of new jobs in local government. The governor must fairly distribute the funding among congressional districts, in proportion to each district’s rural population.

2) Put America to Work Act of 2009 (H.R. 4268), introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison, described in this press release

Appropriates $40 billion to local governments to create jobs in the public or non-profit sector and potentially in small businesses that provide public services. This investment will create approximately 1 million jobs across the nation.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to award fast-track federal grants to local governments to create employment opportunities across a broad array of critical infrastructure and revitalization projects.

(A) The painting and repair of schools, community centers, and libraries.

(B) The restoration and revitalization of abandoned and vacant properties to alleviate blight in distressed and foreclosure-affected areas of a unit of general local government.

(D) The augmentation of staffing in Head Start, child care, and other early childhood edu- cation programs to promote school readiness and early literacy.

(E) The renovation and enhancement of maintenance of parks, playgrounds, and other public spaces.

After 9 months, additional grants would be made grant to public entities, nonprofit organizations, public-private partnerships, or small businesses to create opportunities for employment in the following areas:

(A) Construction, re-construction, rehabilitation, and site improvements of residences or public facilities, including improvements in the energy efficiency or environmental quality of such public facilities or residences.

(B) Provision of human services, including child care services, health care services, education, or recreational programs.

(D) Programs that provide disadvantaged youth with opportunities for employment, education, leadership development, entrepreneurial skills development, and training.

Local governments would collaborate with community organizations, labor and other community leaders to identify the projects that would be most beneficial. All jobs would be subject to strict non-displacement requirements, and no individual could be employed by any employer where there is a collective bargaining agreement in effect covering the same or similar work, except with concurrence of the union.

3) The New Deal for A New Economy Act, (HR 4290), introduced by Rep. Phil Hare

Press Release and Fact Sheet

The bill would invest $60 billion in federal funding to create 3 million jobs through a targeted, three-tiered approach.

First, the bill would establish a public works and public interest grant program administered by the Department of Labor to put people back to work immediately, similar to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. $31 billion would be appropriated to make grants to state, county and municipal governments and non-profit community based organizations to create jobs to meet community needs. Jobs would include afterschool programs, environmental restoration, social services, painting schools and restoring and preserving historical landmarks.
Second, it would distribute $20 billion in direct aid to financially-strapped state and local governments so they can retain their current workforce and make new hires. Funds would be provided in federal grants to retain and hire personnel for elementary and secondary education, public works and economic development, police and homeland security.
Third and finally, $9 billion funding would be spent to put Americans back to work renovating our National Parks and Forests, much like the Conservation Corps of the 1970’s.

4) National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2009, (HR 2521), introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, described in Press Release 1/28/10, Press Release 5/20/09

The National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2009 would:

Create a National Infrastructure Development Bank: Modeled after the European Investment Bank and other development banks around the world, it would include an independent and objective Board of Directors to, among other things, make final infrastructure financing determinations; an Executive Committee to handle the day-to-day operations of the Bank; and Risk Management and Audit Committees to carefully manage risk and monitor the bank’s activities.

Attract Private Investment Toward Critical Infrastructure Projects: The bank Board would have the authority to, among other things, issue “public benefit” bonds; make loans and offer loan guarantees; and purchase and sell infrastructure-related loans and securities on the global capital market.

Depoliticize Infrastructure Investment: The Bank would consider infrastructure projects Depoliticize Infrastructure Investment: The Bank would consider infrastructure projects in the realm of transportation (i.e. highways, transit, inland waterways, rail and air travel), the environment (i.e. drinking and wastewater facilities and hazardous waste facilities); energy (i.e. renewable energy transmission and building efficiency); and telecommunications (i.e. broadband development). The Bank would objectively consider the economic, environmental, social benefits and costs of infrastructure projects, as well as other specific criteria, and fund projects of significance.

Capitalize a Bank: The bank is capitalized with authorized appropriations of $5 billion a year for 5 years as paid in capital, like the Obama budget, and a total of $250 billion in total subscribed capital available from the Treasury if needed.

5) Gulf Coast Civic Works Act (HR 2269), introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren. For more information, see the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign Website

Establishes within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Federal Coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding the Gulf Coast Civic Works Commission.

Requires the Commission to: (1) establish regional taskforces and prepare a regional policy plan; (2) establish and administer a Gulf Coast Civic Works Project that employs a minimum of 100,000 Gulf Coast region residents and evacuees for public works projects to rebuild and develop the Gulf Coast region impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; (3) establish or support existing job-training programs and apprenticeships to recruit and train qualified workers, with emphasis on women and disadvantaged workers from the Gulf Coast region, for specific job vacancies in approved Civic Works Projects and other recovery, rebuilding, and development projects; (4) ensure that all workers are paid wages at not less than the prevailing locality rate (Davis-Bacon Act); and (5) establish or coordinate other infrastructure projects, including environmental restoration, energy efficiency and conservation, search for affordable workforce housing, and youth works projects.

About the Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:10:00 +0000

The Put America to Work Campaign is a national grassroots citizens' campaign to pass comprehensive federal job creation legislation, achieve full employment and secure the right to a living wage job for every person in the U.S. who wants one.

Our current strategic focus to build national support for HR 870, the Humphrey Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).   To mobilize support for the bill, we will be conducting a national program of community forums and teach-ins to educate policymakers and citizens about the jobs crisis and the need for massive public investment to improve our infrastructure, human services and social safety net.

We seek to put a human face on unemployment, underemployment, financial insecurity and economic distress. Our goal is to build a powerful national social movement that harnesses the voices of ordinary Americans and community organizations to permanently improve the economic rights for people who live in this country, including the right to a job, the right to a decent education, the right to health care and the right to income and retirement security.

In taking on this challenge, we want to create a more compassionate and solidaristic economy, where the public interest and the common welfare are valued, and people from all walks of life join together to reduce and eliminate poverty and chronic unemployment.   Whether we have a good job or we are unemployed, we have a huge stake in each other's well-being. The problems of unemployment, poor wages and poverty are not just the problems of the unemployed and the poor -- they are the problems of all of us. We have all seen corporations abruptly eliminate and shed jobs of highly-paid workers when it suits them to do so. The economic security of workers-at-large will be greatly improved by ensuring that everyone who wants to work has the right and opportunity to do so.

To that end, we seek to inspire a much high level of public awareness and civic engagement about solving the serious, long-standing and chronic problems of unemployment, underemployment and poverty in the U.S. Even in relatively good times, tens of millions of Americans have continued to suffer with inadequate job opportunities and low wages.   The fight for full employment and economic justice must go to the top of the national agenda, and stay there until all Americans have the economic right to a decent job and livelihood.

The campaign is a project of the National Jobs for All Coalition, a national organization based in New York that advocates for full employment and living wage jobs for all. Contributions to NJFAC are tax-deductible and we welcome financial and volunteer contributions in support of the campaign.

To join the campaign and endorse HR 870, or request more information, please fill out our contact form.

Contact Us!

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Bell) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:21:00 +0000

Please contact us by filling out the form below, or sending an email to cbell [at] njfac.org

Link to contact form

Formstack - HTML Form Maker

Link to contact form

Contact:

Put America to Work Campaign
c/o National Jobs for All Coalition
PO Box 0012
Maryknoll, NY 10545
Web: http://www.putamericatowork.net/
Web: http://www.njfac.org/
Blog: www.DriveforDecentWork.org
Email: cbell [at] njfac.org
(914) 830-0639