Klein, House Support Job Creation Bill

Press Release

Congressman Ron Klein (FL-22) joined a majority of his House colleagues today to pass legislation that will create jobs and help get our local economy back on track. The Jobs for Main Street Act, which is fully paid for and does not add to the deficit, makes smart investments in critical areas like infrastructure, public safety and small businesses in order to continue creating jobs and putting more South Floridians back to work. The legislation also provides emergency relief to families hit hardest by the recession by extending additional unemployment benefits and assistance with COBRA, the program that helps those who have lost their jobs afford health insurance for their families.

"Job creation is my number one priority," Klein said. "South Floridians are ready to get to work. Creating jobs is the fastest way to revive our economy, and this legislation will do just that. It is also especially important to me as a deficit hawk that this bill is fully paid for and does not add to our national debt. Every dime spent under this bill is drawn from the program known as TARP. Today, we made a statement: instead of directing money to Wall Street, we are sending that money into our local communities to create jobs, which is exactly where it belongs."

Today's legislation also provides essential support to small businesses, which are among the most important job creation engines in South Florida. Earlier this year, Congress passed key programs to eliminate fees on Small Business Administration loans and increase incentives for bank participation in small business lending. Small business loans have been in such high demand that these successful programs used up all their available funding. In order to keep these programs alive and serving local business owners, today's legislation provides an extra infusion of funding.
The bill also put people back to work with targeted investments in highways, roads and other infrastructure projects, such as funding to rebuild crumbling schools. In addition, it will save or create hundreds of thousands of jobs for teachers, police officers and firefighters to keep our communities safe. The bill will also extend emergency relief to families hit hardest by the recession with additional unemployment benefits and subsidies for the COBRA health insurance program. It also expands the Child Tax Credit to cut taxes for 16 million families nationwide.

"This bill marks another step in our ongoing fight to create jobs in South Florida," Klein said. "We are hiring teachers, police officers and firefighters as well as rebuilding our crumbling highways and bridges and renovating our oldest schools. By supporting our local small businesses and making smart, targeted investments in these critical areas, we can get our economy back on track."
Klein made clear today that this legislation is part of a broader effort to spark job creation and revive South Florida's economy. "There is still much work ahead, and I look forward to rolling up our sleeves and making real progress on new programs for small businesses owners and other job creators in the coming weeks and months."

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