Op-Ed by Senator Specter: Job-creating recovery is a must for Pennsylvania, nation
Arlen Specter
The Patriot News
Jan 27, 2010
Like the rest of the country, Pennsylvania is facing the harshest economic conditions in generations.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one in 12 Pennsylvania workers, or nearly 560,000, can’t find a job. That’s almost 170,000 more than a year ago, and double the number of Pennsylvanians out of work two years ago. Add to that those who can only find part-time employment and the number increases to 900,000.
Many regions have suffered disproportionate job losses, creating deep pockets of hardship. In Pennsylvania, 12 of 67 counties exceed the national unemployment rate, currently 10 percent.
Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter participates in a ground breaking with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, center, at the Elizabethtown Amtrak Station on August 24. (ANN FOSTER, The Patriot-News)
Dauphin and the neighboring counties of Perry, Cumberland, York, Lancaster and Lebanon have fared better than most with a combined jobless rate of just over 7 percent. In Harrisburg, on the other hand, the jobless rate is 10.2, demonstrating the vulnerability of urban areas. While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has created or preserved 84,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, we need to do more to get people back to work. The House of Representatives took an important step by passing a jobs bill on Dec. 16. The Senate needs to build on that legislation quickly so the president can sign an effective jobs bill as soon as possible.
Under a bill I have introduced, 11 Pennsylvania counties, including Philadelphia, would qualify as “economic disaster areas” entitled to special loan relief for small businesses.
Small businesses represent more than 99 percent of all employers and have generated nearly two-thirds of new jobs during the last 15 years. The commonwealth of Pennsylvania alone has 978,831 small businesses.
My bill, the “Helping Small Business Succeed Act,“ would accelerate lending practices and provide small businesses with the assistance they need to lead America out of recession.
The bill authorizes the Small Business Administration to increase lending limits and loan guarantees; extend waivers on borrower and bank fees; and declare certain regions “economic disaster areas” defined as counties with an average unemployment rate at least one percent greater than the average unemployment rate for the nation during the last two years.
Congress also should consider tax credits to encourage hiring, and companies, to preserve jobs, should be able to pursue unfair trade practices known as private right of action. The “Buy America” provisions in the House-passed jobs bill also would help save jobs. Public anger over the slow pace of recovery makes clear we need to get people back to work quickly. The most effective way to do this is to create jobs that invest in communities, with special emphasis on communities with the highest joblessness.
As a nation, we cannot afford to consign millions to chronic joblessness or underemployment. We need to be preparing our workers for productive jobs, in growing fields such as health care or renewable energy. We need to protect and increase jobs available in the public and nonprofit sectors to spur the conditions that will lead to growth in the private sector as well. Our country has the tools to make a genuine job-creating recovery a reality. What we need now is the will to make it happen.
Arlen Specter is a Democrat representing Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate. He is up for re-election this year.
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