By Ed Somers
October 17, 2011

A majority vote of 51 Senators was not enough to move forward President Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act on October 11, far short of the 60 votes needed under Senate filibuster rules. With every Republican Senator voting against the package, in addition to Democratic Senators John Tester (MT) and Ben Nelson (NE), it is now all but certain that a comprehensive bill will not pass in this Congress.

Prior to the Senate vote, Conference of Mayors President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa issued a statement saying, “Mayors across the nation urge the Senate to pass the American Jobs Act and put people ahead of politics. The plan includes common'sense ideas that have historically been supported by both parties. It would invest in infrastructure jobs, keep teachers in the classroom, and help businesses hire more workers. Americans deserve these jobs. It’s time for the Senate to act.”

The White House has said that it will now attempt to move forward smaller pieces of the American Jobs Act. There seems to be indications of bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate for some of the tax provisions in the President’s package – such as extension of the payroll tax cut. Less clear is if any of the spending proposals related to infrastructure, teacher hiring, COPS, firefighters, workforce training or housing will be able to move in either the House or the Senate.

The Conference of Mayors has put forward its own Common'sense Jobs Agenda that contains many of the same priorities as the American Jobs Act.

As agreed at the Conference of Mayors September Leadership Meeting, Villaraigosa is calling upon all mayors “to make a commitment to highlight the need for job creation legislation on a weekly basis from now through Thanksgiving.”

The first step in this process is for mayors to sign the U.S. Mayors Jobs Pledge that states: “I PLEDGE to do one activity each week to help push Congress to pass comprehensive legislation to help put people back to work.”

To date, 72 mayors from 31 states and the District of Columbia have signed this pledge. A full list of those signatories can be seen online at usmayors.org.

Other mayors wishing to join with their colleges and sign the pledge can do so by going to the website: http://www.usmayors.org/jobspledge.

Here are some examples of what some mayors have done to support passage of comprehensive jobs legislation:

Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle held a press conference on October 7 to discuss the city’s infrastructure needs requiring immediate attention next to the bridge at 79th and F Street.

At the event, the mayor said, “At the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Leadership Meeting, I, along with 49 other mayors from across the country asked President Obama’s top advisors to work with us to streamline the process of receiving federal dollars directed to cities. President Obama’s American Jobs Act not only makes improving infrastructure a priority, but includes those same provisions to direct federal assistance directly to cities… Repairing and replacing roads and bridges enables us to put people in our community back to work. Re-building our infrastructure will take additional manpower – meaning jobs for people who may not be working today.”

Tallahassee Mayor John Marks III initiated a letter signed by mayors from 25 Florida cities and towns to Congress and the members of the Florida congressional delegation urging passage of the jobs plan.

“We cannot wait any longer. It is time for Congress to act now by passing the jobs plan,” wrote the mayors in their letter to Congress. “This should not be a partisan issue. As the President has mentioned, the proposals in the jobs plan have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans.”

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker issued a press release upon signing the jobs pledge saying, “Now is the time for the political bickering and partisan tug-of-war in Washington to come to an end. Our elected officials need to step away from personal political agendas and join together with their colleagues to look out for the tens of thousands of unemployed or under-employed Utahns – our family members, neighbors and friends – who need their leaders to work toward solutions.”

Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell championed the American Jobs Act in a telephone news conference with a White House Environmental Quality Council Chair Nancy Sutley, saying that the bill would provide $945 million to Michigan to rebuild roads, schools and hire up to 11,900 educators, police officers and firefighters.

“We’ve seen state revenue sharing has been declining and we also know we are not able to keep up with infrastructure needs in our communities,” Heartwell said.