By Ed Somers
September 19, 2011

In releasing The American Jobs Act on September 8, President Barack Obama and his White House team emphasized that many of the specific proposals reflect priorities contained in The U.S. Conference of Mayors Common'sense Jobs Agenda.

In a conference call held with over 1,100 local officials on September 9, President Obama specifically referenced The U.S. Conference of Mayors jobs agenda as an influence on his plan, and thanked the nation’s mayors for their leadership.

White House staff has also stressed their intention to make sure more of the funding under this new plan goes to cities and metro areas.

Conference of Mayors President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa was invited to be in the President’s box during the jobs address, as was Conference of Mayors Board Member Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory.

Fifty members of the Conference of Mayors leadership will be in Washington (DC) September 19-21, and will be advocating for quick Congressional action on the jobs agenda.

Conference of Mayors Officers Respond

Following release of the Obama plan, Villaraigosa, Conference of Mayors Vice President Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Conference of Mayors Second Vice President Mesa Mayor Scott Smith released the following statement:

“Tonight President Obama offered to Congress a set of proven, actionable solutions through The American Jobs Act, to finally end our country’s economic paralysis, help the unemployed find jobs again and put our people back to work.

“These proposals represent a true Main Street plan – they address the needs of cities, which is where more than 80 percent of the U.S. population lives, and they will get our economy back on track. We commend President Obama for introducing the American Jobs Act and we urge Congress to take action immediately.

“Last week, the nation’s mayors offered a set of bi-partisan actions, A Common'sense Jobs Agenda, that can move the needle today. We were pleased to see many of these ideas reflected in President Obama’s proposal.

“Mayors strongly support the President’s plan, which would put people back to work through smart infrastructure investment, tax cuts for working and middle class families, and help the long term unemployed support their families while they find work.

“We also applaud President Obama for calling for a TIFIA increase, a critical component of America Fast Forward. Since Committee leaders in both the Senate and the House agree on TIFIA expansion, there should be no more excuses and Congress should act now.

“Leaders in Washington need to heed President Obama’s call for action. We urge Congress to find common ground and deliver immediate relief to help put America back to work.”

• $50 billion for immediate investments in transportation infrastructure, including $27 billion for highway/highway safety, $9 billion for transit, $2 billion for passenger rail, and $2 billion for airport improvement grants.

• $10 billion for innovative financing, directing $4 billion to support the development of high'speed rail corridors, $1 billion for NextGen Air Traffic Modernization efforts, and $5 billion for the TIGER and TIFIA programs which provide funds on a competitive basis for multi-modal transportation investments.

• $10 billion to capitalize a National Infrastructure Bank to be directed by an independent, non-partisan board with expertise in finance and managing and operating infrastructure providing resources across a broad range of eligibilities (e.g., transportation infrastructure, water infrastructure, and energy infrastructure).

• $5 billion to preserve first responder jobs to support the hiring and retention of public safety personnel. We have been told that $4 billion is for COPS grants, and $1 billion for SAFER firefighter grants. We also understand COPS hiring grants would require no local match and no salary cap.

• $5 billion for a “Pathways Back to Work” fund to provide hundreds of thousands of low-income youth and adults with job training. The Initiative includes funding for 1) Summer and year-round jobs for youth; 2) Subsidized employment opportunities for low-income individuals who are unemployed, building off the successful TANF Emergency Contingency Fund wage subsidy program; and 3) Promising and innovative local work-based job and training initiatives to place low-income adults and youths in jobs quickly.

• $49 billion to help the long-term unemployed includes innovative work-based reforms to prevent layoffs and give states greater flexibility to use UI funds to best support job'seekers,

• $15 billion for Project Rebuild to employ construction workers to rehabilitate and refurbish hundreds of thousands of vacant and foreclosed homes and businesses. Using proven approaches to stabilizing neighborhoods with high concentration of foreclosures, Project Rebuild will draw on expertise and capital from the private sector, focus on commercial and residential property improvements, and expand innovative solutions such as land banks.

• $30 billion to prevent layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers and support the hiring of tens of thousands more. This funding would be directed to local school districts.

• $25 billion in school infrastructure to modernize at least 35,000 public schools in urban and rural areas – investments to create jobs, improve classrooms and upgrading schools through energy efficiency and other measures.

• $5 billion to modernize community colleges.

• $70 billion would be available in tax cuts for small businesses that hire new workers and expand operations. The proposal calls for a 50 percent reduction on the small business employer’s share of the payroll tax, which is 6.2 percent of payroll on the first $5 million in wages. And it would temporarily eliminate the payroll tax for wages for new hires or for growth in payroll for existing workers up to $50 million. It also includes a 100 percent deduction for investments in new plants or equipment. This will put money in the hands of small businesses for immediate reinvestment in new hires.

• $8 billion would be available in tax credits for businesses that hire veterans and long-term unemployed individuals who have been looking for a job for 6 or more months. A tax credit up to $9,600 would be available to businesses that hire wounded veterans with service related disabilities, a $5,600 tax credit would be available for long-term unemployed veterans and a $4,000 tax credit would be available for long-term unemployed individuals.

• $175 billion would be available in tax cuts for 160 million workers. The employee’s share of the payroll tax, 6.2 percent, would be reduced by 50 percent. Last year the payroll tax for workers was reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. This proposal would further reduce the payroll tax for workers to 3.1 percent, which will provide a tax cut of $1,500 to the typical family earning $50,000. This will increase the buying power of 160 million workers next year and serve as a significant stimulus to local economies.

• The President’s plan follows bipartisan Senate legislation to expand wireless services for the public & first responders and help develop and deploy a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public safety. The plan includes reallocating the D Block for public safety (costing $3 billion) and directing $7 billion to support the deployment of this network to meet public safety requirements.