Etheridge statement on Senate jobs legislation

Washington, D.C. -— U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington), the only North Carolina member of the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday announced Senate passage of the HIRE Act to create jobs and bring tax breaks to Americans.

The bill also includes a provision to fix the rules for issuing Qualified School Construction Bonds:

“This is good news on jobs! The HIRE Act will support more than one million new jobs this year, and encourage more businesses to take that next step to come off the sidelines and add employees. This common sense measure will put folks back to work in our Main Street businesses.

“I am pleased this bill finally implements a simple fix that expands access to credit for state and local governments and creates jobs by building the new schools we need. Our success on school bonds involved discussions with the White House, Treasury and state leaders to make sure the bonds will work for North Carolina schools.”

Qualified School Construction bonds were created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and built on a proposal by Congressman Etheridge championed for many years. The Act authorized zero-interest school construction and modernization bonds for states and local communities.

The provision in the HIRE Act would allow the state or local government to choose to receive a direct payment from the Federal government equal to the value of that credit. This is similar to the Build America Bond direct payment option that has been very successful in helping state and local governments find a market for those bonds.