WHEREAS:

            America continues to suffer the effects of an economic crisis initiated by greed and speculation of financial capital, as a consequence of which, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and many workers have exhausted their unemployment benefits and have given up on looking for a job; and

WHEREAS:

            We need a comprehensive jobs program that will create jobs in America by establishing government funding of work projects building and modernizing public transportation, roads and bridges, general infrastructure such as building and modernizing schools and alternative energy products; and

WHEREAS:

            President Barack Obama has presented a plan to create jobs and restore the vital impulse of the economy, the American Jobs Act. A plan intended to create jobs without increasing the deficit; and

WHEREAS:

            President Obama’s plan will give tax cuts to small businesses to help them grow and will make massive investments in renovations of public schools, highways, transit and aviation projects, which in turn will put hundreds and thousands of workers back to work; and

WHEREAS:

            President Obama’s plan will extend the period for unemployment insurance and will include a new pathway back to work training programs for growth industries; and

WHEREAS:

            This plan will be fully paid for under President Obama’s deficit reduction plan.  The Deficit Reduction Joint Committee will determine what additional deficit reductions are necessary to pay for this act and still meet its deficit target.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

            That AFSCME will support President Obama’s American Jobs Act initiative and lobby for the passage of the Americans Jobs Act, the Works Project Administration for the 21st Century; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

            That AFSCME will support and lobby for legislation that will allocate funding for the creation of a comprehensive jobs program and create work projects.