Reid on Jobs Bill: Will Put Nevadans Back to Work

LAS VEGAS—Today, Sen. Harry Reid discussed the importance of the new Jobs Bill he introduced, highlighting how this crucial legislation will put Nevadans back to work through tax cuts to promote hiring, tax incentives to avoid layoffs, and investments in infrastructure.

The event was held at Southern Nevada Paving, a small business that paves roads and highways. This firm benefitted from the Recovery Act’s infrastructure investments and is looking forward to taking advantage of the transportation funding allocations in the Jobs Bill. Dozens of the company’s employees were in attendance to receive a much anticipated update from Sen. Reid.

Coming a day after the Recovery Act’s one year anniversary, Sen. Reid used the event to address the progress achieved by ARRA pulling the economy back from the brink while laying out the pathway forward to create good paying Nevada jobs through this new legislation.

Reid said: “A year ago, the stimulus became law, setting the recovery in motion. We stopped the bleeding. Now it’s time to nurse our economy back to health. We are starting with a specific plan to create jobs – and to create the right conditions for the private sector to hire more workers.

“In fact, the very first bill we’ll vote on next week is a jobs plan that will cut businesses’ taxes as an incentive to hire unemployed workers. It’s a jobs bill that’s as good for the employers doing the hiring as it is for the employees getting hired.”

Sen. Reid was also joined by William Ramsdell, President of American Solar Enterprise, a small solar-energy based firm who discussed how the company benefited from the Recovery Act’s emphasis on renewable energy as well as his eagerness to take advantage of the hiring incentives in the new Jobs Bill.

Highlights of the Jobs Bill:

…promotes hiring by cutting payroll taxes for employers who hire anyone who has previously been unemployed for 60 days;

…encourages job retention by giving employers a $1,000 tax credit for every new employee who is retained for at least one year;

…helps small business hire more workers by allowing them to write off the costs of major purchases, freeing up capital that will allow them to grow and hire new employees;

…saves and creates construction jobs by extending existing highway programs, and making funding available for transportation and infrastructure projects in Nevada;

…helps state and local governments fund job-creating construction projects on courthouses, schools, roads, public safety buildings and public utilities.

The full text of Sen. Reid’s remarks as prepared can be found below:

An emergency room doctor’s first job is to stabilize the patient. That’s exactly what we did with our economy.

A year ago yesterday the stimulus became law, setting the recovery in motion – and we haven’t stopped since.

We stopped the bleeding. Now it’s time to nurse our economy back to health.

Some people who want nothing more than to see this President fail and see this Congress fail – those who shamelessly bet on America to fail – have pretended the stimulus hasn’t succeeded. They’re wrong.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Ask the hardworking Nevadans like those at American Solar Electric, whom just told you exactly how the stimulus has worked.

They’re not alone. Ask the 20,000 Nevadans who have the stimulus to thank for having a job to go to every morning.

Ask the hundreds of thousands of families and small businesses across Nevada who got tax cuts, or ask the seniors and veterans who got help paying their bills, or ask those who are still looking for work but whose unemployment insurance has been extended in the meantime.

Think about this: In the three months before the Recovery Act, three-quarters of a million Americans lost their jobs – just in those three months alone. Then the Recovery Act kicked in, and in the last three months, that number is down from 750,000 to 35,000.

That’s not all: in the quarter before the Recovery Act, the economy shrank by more than 6 percent. In the last quarter, the economy grew by 6 percent. That’s a pretty health swing.

Economist after economist has said that as many as 2.5 million people who have jobs today would not have had them if we hadn’t acted.

Economist after economist has said that our recession would have become another depression if we had done nothing, as some suggested.

Going from 750,000 job losses to 35,000 is a big, positive change. Taking our economy from 6-percent contraction to 6-percent growth is a big, positive change.

Now, we don’t pretend for a minute that it’s enough. I know Nevada’s families and businesses are hurting. But it’s a strong start. It shows that the steps we’re taking are in the right direction.

You know, when we talk about the “Recovery Act,” a lot of people focus on the first word of that name. But the second is just as important: When some said “Do nothing,” we said, “We must act.” The signs of hope we’ve seen so far show the difference between doing nothing and doing something.

Also, remember this: the Recovery Act isn’t over. It was designed to spend money gradually over time so that it would be more than just a shot in the arm. It was designed both to help us recover in the short run and to lay the foundation for prosperity in the long run.

That’s why we’re going to keep going, and keep creating even more jobs.

Too many Nevadans will lie awake tonight and worry about their families’ future. They will toss and turn and agonize about how they can keep the heat on, keep their homes from foreclosing and keep their health care.

Too many Americans are lying awake at night because too few of them have a job to go to in the morning.

We know that if we’re going to get our economy back on track, we have to get the American people back to work.

That’s why – just as we dedicated last year to stabilizing our economy – we are dedicating this year to nursing it back to health.

We are starting with a specific plan to create jobs – and to create the right conditions for the private sector to hire more workers. It’s a plan for both the short-term and the long-term.

In fact, the very first bill we’ll vote on next week is a jobs plan that will cut businesses’ taxes as an incentive to hire unemployed workers. It includes more tax breaks for keeping those workers on the payroll, and even more help for small businesses to write off their investments.

It’s a jobs bill that’s as good for the employers doing the hiring as it is for the employees getting hired.

And we’re going to do it in the right places.

When we help small businesses like Southern Nevada Paving thrive, we will create jobs that will let more entrepreneurs innovate and lead.

When we invest in improving our roads and bridges – again, through the good work of companies like Southern Nevada Paving – we will create jobs so workers can support their families, but also create infrastructure to support our growing nation.

And when we put more police on the streets and more teachers in the classrooms, we will create jobs that will benefit not only civil servants who are ready to work – they will also benefit the families those civil servants will protect and the children they will teach.

This isn’t about politics. It is about putting people back to work.

Our motivation is to help every American sleep a little easier. Our mission is to not stop until every American who wants a job can get one. And our message is this: creating jobs is job one.