Video Summary
Bill Statistics
The Middle Class Position
The middle class supports.
How They Voted
50% with middle class
49% against middle class
1% did not vote
Grades
House
The House receives a grade of C for its support of the middle class on this piece of legislation.
216 Representatives voted for the middle-class position; 212 voted against.
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See how each member voted on this bill:
(H.R. 2847) On passage of legislation redirecting funds previously used to bail out distressed major financial institutions to economic stimulus programs; the legislation also provided fiscal year 2010 funding for the Departments of Defense and Commerce, the Justice Department and various other government agencies
in
- Affordable Housing Trust Fund
- Child care
- Community college
- Economic stimulus
- Education
- Efficient technology
- Elementary school
- Energy & Environment
- Government Accountability
- Green buildings
- Green jobs
- Health Care
- High school
- Housing
- Job training
- Layoffs
- Medicaid
- Middle school
- Public employment
- Public housing
- Public infrastructure
- Teachers
- Unemployment
- Workplace & Job Creation
Introduced:
06.12.2009 [House]
06.12.2009 [House]
Sponsor:
Rep. Alan Mollohan [D-WV]
Rep. Alan Mollohan [D-WV]
Signed into Law: 03.18.2010
2009 House Roll Call #991:
Yea-217, Nay-212
The Legislation:
This was on final passage of legislation that redirected a portion of the “TARP” funds, previously used to bail out distressed major financial institutions, to economic stimulus programs. The bill also provided fiscal year 2010 funding for the Departments of Defense and Commerce, the Justice Department and various other agencies.
Rep. Obey (D-WI), the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was leading the support for the bill. He focused his remarks on the provisions that redirected the use of the TARP funds. Obey noted that they previously “have been directed to help Wall Street” and are now being directed “to Main Street to try to help Americans who are struggling to hang onto their jobs, their houses, and their health care.”
Rep. Oberstar, who chairs the Public Works and Transportation Committee which has jurisdiction over many of the programs to which the TARP funds will be redirected, expressed his support for the legislation. Oberstar claimed “a highly successful record” on that portion of the stimulus that had already been devoted to transportation and infrastructure development. Specifically, he said: “There are 220,000 direct jobs on over 8,000 projects . . . There is $10 billion paid in payroll checks and $179 million in unemployment insurance compensation checks avoided, and there is $230 million in taxes paid to the federal government by those on these jobs, and there is more to come . . . That is an investment in America.”
Rep. Lewis (R-CA) was leading the opposition to the legislation. He also focused on the redirected use of the TARP funds, calling it “economic insanity.” Lewis argued that the redirection of the funds is a policy that “repeats the failures of the previous “so-called ‘Recovery Act' by pouring another $150 billion into programs included in the original stimulus package that have so far failed to produce real results or real jobs.” He went on to claim that the redirection “adds an additional $150 billion to a budget deficit that has already tripled in the last year.”
Lewis attacked the bill generally because it had only become available very shortly before it was brought to the House floor for consideration. He said its provisions were “a virtual mystery”, claiming that Chairman Obey had “instructed his (Democratic) staff not to share any details or information with the (Republican) staff about the bill” and noting that its contents “were released just shy of midnight last night . . . and there is no way for anyone to have read or understood it completely.”
The legislation passed by a vote of 217-212. All two hundred and twenty-eight “aye” votes were cast by Democrats, including a majority of the most progressive Members .Thirty-eight other Democrats joined all one hundred and seventy-four Republicans and voted “nay”. As a result, the House approved and sent to the Senate legislation redirecting funds previously used to bail out distressed major financial institutions to economic stimulus programs, and providing fiscal year 2010 funding for the Departments of Defense and Commerce, the Justice Department and various other agencies.
The Middle-Class Position:
Middle Class Supports. While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulated economic growth and created between 600,000 and 1.2 million additional jobs, the employment situation remains grim. The unemployment rate stands at an extraordinary 10.0 percent and more than 15 million people are jobless. There are six job openings for every worker who wants a job, while almost 40 percent of the unemployed have been jobless for longer than 26 weeks. In short, the stimulus package was necessary, but insufficient. Further, several of the most important provisions in the stimulus package, including extended unemployment benefits and health insurance assistance for the unemployed, are set to expire before the employment outlook has improved.
The Jobs for Main Street Act expands assistance for the aspiring middle-class and middle class Americans affected most by the economic downturn while allocating additional funds that can create and save jobs quickly. Without the Act’s extension of unemployment insurance, 1 million workers will run out of unemployment insurance in January and 3 million will run out by the first quarter of the year. Unemployed families relying on subsidized COBRA insurance could see their premiums skyrocket from $389 a month to $1,111 per month. Further, workers who lose their jobs in 2010 would receive no help with their COBRA premiums. Extending these invaluable programs would not only continue to assist cash-strapped middle-class families, but would help ensure that these households can continue to support the economy by spending on everyday necessities.
Additional spending included in the Jobs for Main Street Act will create jobs and further stimulate the economy. Recent research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York demonstrates that government spending at this time will result in well over $2 in economic activity for every dollar spent, although new tax cuts would in fact shrink the economy. Aid to states for infrastructure projects, education, and public safety will create and maintain employment and preserve important services. These funds will prevent cash-strapped states from cutting public services at a time Americans most need them and will encourage additional public sector hiring. Indeed, funding for education in the original stimulus package similar to that included in the Jobs for Main Street Act created or saved more than 300,000 jobs. The maintenance of the increased federal share of Medicaid payments will serve a similar function in addition to preventing reductions in health care for low-income children and adults. The Jobs for Main Street Act invests significant resources in areas that can generate both economic activity and jobs for middle-class Americans.
From the Experts:
“The predictable argument against a plan like this is that we can’t afford to do it. In fact, we can’t afford not to do it. We simply cannot address the deficit without first creating jobs and ensuring a sustained economic recovery. By far the biggest factor contributing to the spike in the budget deficit this year is that the recession has led to massive job losses and, consequently, reduced tax revenues.”
–Lawrence Mishel, President, Economic Policy Institute (December 15, 2009)
“There is no time to waste to reauthorize the jobless benefits and health care subsidies that are now the lifeline for millions of jobless Americans hardest hit by the recession. Despite the crucial weeks of extensions Congress passed earlier this month, the looming question is what happens next year, if the entire ARRA unemployment package expires with nothing in its place…Any delay reauthorizing the ARRA will have devastating consequences not just for workers and the struggling communities hardest hit by the recession.”
–Christine Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project (November 18, 2009)
Beyond this Bill:
Congress has had significant difficulty crafting programs that address the severity and duration of the unemployment situation. Though the continuation of unemployment benefits and the COBRA subsidy are welcome, Congress should consider tying the expiration of these programs to significant reductions in the unemployment rate rather than enacting ad hoc extensions. Additionally, when the Senate takes up the Jobs for Main Street Act, it should consider creating a program for the federal government to hire workers directly. Such direct employment by the federal government would create jobs immediately without the increased bureaucracy involved with funneling money through state and local governments. Spending could be easily targeted at worthy, large-scale infrastructure projects.
