WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to create jobs and provide much needed assistance to Rhode Island, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is calling for the swift passage of a common sense jobs bill to hire and retain hundreds of thousands of teachers, police, and firefighters nationwide, including an estimated 1,100 jobs in Rhode Island. 

The Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act, which may be voted on later this week in the U.S. Senate, will help save or create nearly 400,000 education jobs across the country through critical investments in the education of our nation’s children.  The bill provides states with an additional $30 billion to invest in education and create jobs.  It will also provide $5 billion to keep thousands of police, firefighters, and paramedics on the job.  The bill is fully paid for by a 0.5 percent surtax on those making more than $1 million per year and would not add to the deficit according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Due to the state’s budget shortfalls in 2012, Rhode Island elementary and high schools are currently receiving 4.4% less state funding this year than in 2008.  As a result, local school districts are forced to cut back on educational programs and services, often laying-off needed teachers and other critical staff, or raise additional revenue to cover the shortfall.

“Congress needs to do everything it can to help grow our economy and put people back to work.  The Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act will provide Rhode Island with an additional $94.3 million to invest in education and public safety without adding a dime to the deficit.   Our communities depend on our teachers, police, and firefighters and this is a smart, much-needed investment in saving and creating crucial jobs,” said Reed.

According to the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “state education budget cuts are deepening the recession and slowed the pace of economic recovery by reducing overall economic activity.  The spending cuts have forced school districts to lay off teachers and other employees, reduce pay for the education workers who remain, and cancel contracts with suppliers and other businesses. All of these steps remove consumer demand from the economy, which in turn discourages businesses from making new investments and hiring.”

“This is a simple first step toward putting hundreds of Rhode Islanders and hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work.  There ought to be strong bipartisan support for this common sense solution.  We need to move forward with other proposals, including a payroll tax break to help workers and businesses, new infrastructure investments in our bridges and roads, and an extension of unemployment insurance as well as incentivizing work sharing to save jobs.  High unemployment is a major component of our deficit problem and we need to act now,” concluded Reed, who earlier this year voted to cut $1 trillion in federal spending and also noted the loss of revenue resulting from the recession accounts for nearly $4 trillion of the projected deficits over the next 10 years.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he hopes to have the full U.S. Senate vote on the bill this week, but Republicans may try to block or delay consideration of the bill, just as they did with the American Jobs Act.