Associations support Local Jobs Bill

Local government associations, including the Washington-based National League of Cities (NLC) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), are urging Congress to pass H.R. 4812, the Local Jobs for America Act (LJAA). Supporters say the legislation, which would direct $75 billion to cities and towns, is the first major federal jobs proposal to provide cities and towns, not just states, fiscal assistance to save and create jobs in their communities.

Through a funding formula based on the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, LJAA, which NLC and city officials helped develop, would direct $75 billion to cities, towns and counties to save municipal jobs and prevent layoffs, according to NLC. Of the $75 billion, $52.5 billion would go directly to communities with at least 50,000 residents, and $22.5 billion would go directly to states to distribute to communities with fewer than 50,000 residents. NLC expects the bill will put 1 million people to work.

LJAA also includes $23 billion to help states support an estimated 250,000 education jobs; $1.18 billion to put 5,500 law enforcement officers on the beat; $500 million to hire and retain fire fighters; and $500 million for approximately 50,000 additional on-the-job training slots to help private business expand employment.

NLC President and Riverside, Calif., Mayor Ronald Loveridge called on city leaders to meet with their House and Senate members while they are home during the Congressional recess and urge them to co-sponsor the act. "This is a key piece of legislation that comes as cities face the worst of the economic storm, with revenues down and service needs at their highest," Loveridge said. "Our research at the National League of Cities shows the ability of cities to meet their financial needs is now in jeopardy and will most likely worsen substantially through the rest of 2010."

LJAA includes many of the provisions put forth in USCM's "Mayors' 2010 Metro Agenda for America," which prioritizes direct fiscal assistance to cities, block grants for green jobs, investments in neighborhoods through CDBG, COPS grants for public safety jobs, summer jobs for young people and targeted transportation projects for infrastructure jobs. "Mayors know from experience that investment in metropolitan economies with direct funding to cities can create and save jobs and can do it quickly," said USCM President and Burnsville, Minn., Mayor Elizabeth Kautz. "Mayors are holding the nation together by making impossible decisions everyday, and we have made cuts to the point where only bone is left. These unemployment rates will continue to plague our cities for years to come if we don't act now."

Economic forecasts by Global 2 Insight show that by 2011 more than 100 metropolitan areas will still have an unemployment rate higher than 10 percent, Kautz said. "And of course the center cities of these metro areas will have even higher unemployment numbers, so we have no time to waste," she said.

View a fact sheet about the bill, which now has 92 co-sponsors. Download Kautz's full statement and see more information on LJAA.