WASHINGTON (PAI) – Depending on which path the economy takes – the high growth of the mid-1990s, moderate growth or little growth – joblessness could stay high for up to 11 years, a new study for the Center for Economic Policy and Research says.
The study’s results prompted Sen. Al Franken and Rep. Keith Ellison, both D-Minn., to demand again that Congress pass legislation to retain up to 900,000 state and local government jobs – saying those services may be needed more than ever due to the continued high joblessness.
But prospects for that measure are questionable. Even Franken, in a July 20 telephone press conference, said, “I’m not sure we’ll get to this” legislation before Congress goes on its August break. The schedule is jammed after that.
And Ellison said the prospects of continued long-term high joblessness re-emphasize the case for permanent measures to create more jobs, including investment in infrastructure and creation of a “green energy” manufacturing economy.
The state-and-local-jobs bill is part of labor’s five-part package for revitalizing the economy and bringing it out of the Bush crash. The bill is a particular campaign cause of AFSCME, which points out – as did the lawmakers – that without it, teachers, firefighters, police and other vital services would have to be cut due to declining revenue.
“Public jobs are necessary because we’ve had cuts in public services. The results are more kids in the classroom and fewer cops on the beat,” Ellison said. “And public jobs create private jobs. If I’m a public worker, and I go to the grocery store and spend money, that money goes to the clerk’s paycheck on Friday.”
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