Washington, D.C. -— U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner today told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that measures like Rep. Bob Etheridge’s HIRING Act provide the greatest “bang for the buck” for job creation.
The Secretary testified at the House Budget Committee about the Administration’s business tax credit proposal as part of its economic recovery plans. On the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate today approved a national jobs bill which includes a school construction provision Etheridge requested to promote job growth in North Carolina and nationwide.
“My top three priorities are: jobs, jobs, jobs,” said Etheridge. “Business folks in my district tell me this kind of tax credit will help to put people to work and prime the pump for our economic recovery. The big bankers on Wall Street may be doing well enough that they feel can reward themselves with big bonuses, but Congress needs to step up to the plate and help folks on Main Street and along country roads too.”
Rep. Etheridge supports strengthening businesses’ ability to hire new workers as a critical piece of the puzzle to address the economic downturn. Last month he introduced H.R. 4437, the HIRING Act, to make this possible. The bill would provide a quarterly refundable tax credit to any businesses that expands their payroll, including increasing their hours, or restoring pay cuts made in the past year. Since then, the Director of the Office of Management Budget and now the U.S. Treasury Secretary have stepped forward to endorse hiring tax credits as a means to push the American economy forward into sustained growth. Economic models show that the HIRING Act would produce 2.7 million jobs in the first year and nearly 2 million jobs in the second year.
Etheridge also commended Senate passage of its national jobs bill. The Senate bill includes an important provision which makes a technical change to Qualified School Construction Bonds. The change will allow school districts to move ahead with building new schools at lower costs to their communities, create jobs, and improve education in North Carolina.
“My constituents in North Carolina tell me they want Congress to stop the bickering and political posturing and work together across party lines to fix the economy. I hope Senate passage of these important measures is the first step toward working together to do right by working folks in this country.”