AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT September 9, 2011

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.afscme.org/issues/legislative-weekly-reports/week-ending-september-9-2011

In this issue:

President Obama Calls for Job Creation
Super Committee Begins Work to Reduce Deficit
Federal Appeals Court Dismisses Challenge to Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Nearly 1.3 Million Seniors Save $660 million on Rx Thanks to Affordable Care Act
House Panel Holds Hearing on Job-Killing Legislation
Congress Moves Forward with FY 2012 Funding
House Appropriations Subcommittee Cuts Funds for Public Housing & Transportation Programs
Senate Committee Approves Agriculture Spending Bill
Senate Committee Approves Highway Bill Extension
Senate Hearing on Obama’s Nominee, Richard Cordray, to Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)


President Obama Calls for Job Creation

President Obama delivered a powerful speech to a joint session of Congress, laying out a bold agenda for job creation. His spirited presentation was a clear attempt to change the congressional agenda and move towards jobs creation and away from deficit reduction, which has preoccupied the Congress and the President over the past several months as they struggled with efforts to extend the debt ceiling. The President outlined an almost $450 billion jobs package, which would be paid for. The President challenged Congress, and Republican leaders in particular, to deal with the economy and create the jobs that people need.

The speech received positive support from congressional Democratic leaders. While most Republicans said it was too focused on spending, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said it merited consideration. President McEntee issued a statement stating that the President is right that the country needs jobs right now, and that it’s time to put the middle class and the country first. He also stated that: "The President gets it, the suffering our members see on the frontlines of public service is real, and if the partisan response is the same old posturing about regulations, deficits and taxes, we’ll know they don’t.” The President also strongly defended public workers, declaring, “I reject that we need to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy.”

The President’s jobs package contains $447 billion worth of proposals. Major provisions of the plan include: $35 billion to prevent layoffs of teachers and first-responders; $25 billion to upgrade public school infrastructure; $5 billion to modernize community colleges; $50 billion for “immediate investments” in transportation infrastructure; and creation of an infrastructure bank capitalized with $10 billion in federal money. The plan also calls for $15 billion to rehabilitate vacant property in neighborhoods with high concentrations of foreclosures.

The plan also includes tax incentives for hiring more workers, including a new tax credit to hire the long-term unemployed. It includes a “Returning Heroes” hiring tax credit to encourage the hiring of unemployed veterans. It also calls for an extension of the existing payroll tax holiday for employees, and with a nod to the GOP, he would extend it to employers by cutting the employer portion of the Social Security payroll tax in half for the first $5 million of a company’s payroll. Employers also would get a full payroll tax holiday for hiring new people or raising the pay of current workers.

The President’s plan also assists the unemployed by extending unemployment insurance (UI) for the long-term unemployed for another year. The plan couples this UI extension with initiatives to give states some flexibility in the operation of the UI program, which has been championed by some GOP members. The plan also calls for expanding job opportunities for low-income youth and adults by creating a new “Pathways Back to Work Fund” to pay for jobs and training. An additional tax provision would allow Americans, who owe more than their homes are worth, to refinance their mortgages at today’s near 4% interest rates. President Obama boldly put the onus on Congress to pass his plan and move on immediate job creation, saying he said he would take the fight to every corner of the country.

FULL issue at link.