American Jobs Act Provides Resources for Start-up Businesses, Replacing Outdated Homes and Aid to Unemployed
By Katherine Lucas-Smith on 09/13/2011 @ 04:46 PM
Ask your legislators to support the American Jobs Act!
Last week, President Obama delivered a $447 billion package of job creation proposals to a joint session of Congress. The proposals have been packaged into legislation, called the American Jobs Act, that Congressional leaders will consider in the coming weeks. Details of the proposed legislation are below.
The proposals will not only spur job creation and economic growth, they will also deliver substantial benefits to low-income working families, microenterprises and new entrepreneurs. CFED is thrilled that one key element is the expansion of the Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEA), which enables aspiring entrepreneurs to utilize unemployment insurance money to fund their businesses for up to 26 weeks, providing roughly $10,000-$13,000 in assistance. Currently only seven states provide this benefit. The proposal makes the program available to all states. In addition to expanding SEA, the President's proposals reflect several other CFED priorities for job creation and new business formation.
The economic research firm Macroeconomic Advisers says that the American Jobs Act would boost GDP by 1.3% and increase employment by 1.3 million jobs by the end of 2012. The legislation would achieve this through a combination of new spending to support cash-strapped state and local governments and invest in infrastructure improvements as well as $250 billion in tax cuts to employers and employees.
- Cut in half the payroll taxes that businesses pay on their first $5 million in employee wages and salaries. As 98% of U.S. firms have payroll expenses under $5 million, this tax cut will provide significant, targeted assistance to the small firms that drive job creation. This cut applies to all employers including nonprofit organizations, which employ 11 million workers.
- Provide a 100% payroll tax holiday for employers for newly added workers and increased wages paid to current employees.
- Extend and increase the current payroll tax holiday by cutting payroll taxes by 50% for 160 million workers in 2012. The average American household will receive a $1,500 tax cut.
- Offer a $4,000 tax credit to employers that hire long-term unemployed workers. We are unsure if this credit applies to nonprofits, which do not have a federal tax liability.
The American Jobs Act also includes key provisions to help small business owners better access capital and finance investments in their businesses. Two in particular will deliver benefits to microenterprise owners:
- Allow firms to raise capital through crowd-funded investments (numerous small-dollar investments up to as much as $1 million solicited and bundled through websites such as Kickstarter). Currently, money raised through crowd-funding is counted as donations; allowing supporters to invest instead could greatly expand the amount of funding that entrepreneurs can raise.
- Extend through 2012 firms' ability to deduct 100% of business expenses.
The Act also includes support for unemployed workers who are seeking new jobs and those who are starting their own businesses:
- Extend emergency unemployment compensation to prevent 5 million Americans who are looking for work from losing their benefits.
- Allow states to implement wage insurance to help reemploy older workers and programs that make it easier for unemployed workers to start their own businesses--including expansion of the Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEA) and changes to the Workforce Investment Act. The plan proposes increasing the number of states that have programs including a one-stop mechanism to enable states to connect entrepreneuers with mentoring and access to capital through the SBA and other resources.
- Prohibit employers from discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring.
- Encourage Work-Sharing by permitting workers whose employers choose work-sharing over layoffs to receive unemployment compensation.
- Create a new “Bridge to Work” employment retraining program based on a controversial Georgia state program.
- Establish a fund to support for successful approaches for subsidized employment, innovative training programs and jobs for low-income youth.
Finally, the American Jobs Act also supports job-creating infrastructure and facilities investments:
- Provides $15 billion in investments to rehabilitate and refurbish hundreds of thousands of vacant and foreclosed homes. We will work with the HUD Secretary to ensure that replacing outdated mobile homes with ENERGY STAR manufactured homes could be an eligible use.
- Support salaries of up to 280,000 teachers as well as police and firefighters to prevent layoffs that would harm our children and diminish public safety.
- Modernize and renovate 35,000 public schools across the country, including community colleges. 40 percent of these funds will be directed toward the 100 largest high-need public school districts.
- Establish a National Infrastructure Bank to ensure that America's future infrastructure investment needs will be met and our nation can support the activities of a competitive, growing economy.
- Make immediate investments in U.S. roads, railways, airports and waterways while putting hundreds of thousands of unemployed construction workers back on the job.
- Support public-private partnerships to rehabilitate homes and communities.
Ask your Senators and Representative to support the American Jobs Act!
- Click the "Take Action" link to send an email to your legislators.
- Follow up with a call to their offices. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask to be connected.
- Say that you want them to support the American Jobs Act because it will support job creation and economic growth while strengthening supports for low-income working households, new entrepreneurs, and microenterprises and should be paid for by tax increases as proposed.
- Share this alert with your colleagues and friends.
1200 G Street, NW
Comments
Leave a Comment