Miller Turns Up Heat on Jobs Bill

Washington, April 27 – Although available funding from last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is winding down, state and local governments continue to feel the pinch of a poor economy. A key House Democrat has offered a $100 billion plan designed to help save and create jobs in the public and nonprofit sectors but it hasn’t seen much action yet on Capitol Hill. Support for the measure, however, is growing at the local level, particularly in light of some new statistics released last week.

House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., introduced the Local Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4812) as a proposal to mitigate budget-related layoffs of teachers, police officers and other public employees. Modeled in part after the Recovery Act, the $100 billion measure would distribute formula grant funding directly to state and local governments, as well as private nonprofit groups.