Hoyer: Maryland Economy and Workers Need American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
Watch floor statement
Read statement text
"Our economy is failing: 2.6 million jobs lost last year; the worst housing market since the Great Depression; financial turmoil that has threatened the savings and retirements of millions," stated Hoyer. "Marylanders have felt the impact of this economic downturn in lost jobs, lost wealth, the creation of a deep hole in the State's budget, and an unemployment rate that has climbed to 5.8 percent, the highest level in 15 years. Today, the House has taken the first step in delivering a plan to implement the President's vision to get the economy back on track and put people in our state and our country back to work."
"Action on this economic recovery package will create American jobs now, lay a foundation for long-term growth through clean energy, innovation and education, and includes strict accountability measures to ensure that taxpayers dollar are spent wisely and effectively," continued Rep. Hoyer. "Overall, the plan includes tax relief for 95 percent of working families; tax cuts for job-creating small businesses; projects to put Americans to work renewing our crumbling roads and bridges; and nutrition, unemployment, and healthcare assistance to those families who are being hit hardest by this recession. And to ensure that our nation does not slip back into recession, it makes investments that promise growth and savings in the years to come, including new energy technologies, upgrades for 21st-century classrooms, and the computerization of health records to reduce costs and improve care."
In his statement Hoyer noted that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that two-thirds of recovery funds will be spent in the first 18 months, delivering an immediate jolt to the economy with an estimated 3.6 million more jobs created. Hoyer said he hopes to work with the Administration to increase the percentage to 75 percent. According to leading independent economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com, the plan will create an estimated 99,200 jobs in the State of Maryland by the end of 2010 and reduce the unemployment rate by 2 percent.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains targeted efforts in:
- Transforming Our Economy With Clean, Efficient, American Energy and Innovation and Technology that will create more than 1 million jobs;
- Lowering Health Care Costs by funding aggressive adoption of health information technology, which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and Broadening Coverage by helping those who cannot afford health care in these tough times;
- Modernizing Roads, Bridges, Transit and Waterways to create 1.5 million American jobs and provide more than $782 million in infrastructure funding for Maryland;
- Education for the 21st Century, including an increased Pell Grant for 89,238 students here in Maryland, a higher education tax credit for an additional 53,000 students in our state so that they can stay in college despite these tough times and funding for school construction and teacher retention; Estimates for Maryland school districts can be found here.
- Tax Cuts of up to $1,000 to Make Work Pay for two million families here in Maryland and more than $20 billion for American businesses, large and small, to spur job creation;
- Helping Families Hurt by the Economy, including unemployment insurance for 174,700 of Marylanders who are out of work, those who have lost their health care, seniors and those in need of food stamps and assistance with home heating costs; and
- Saving the Jobs of Teachers, Police Officers, and Firefighters.
In addition, the Recovery Plan has unprecedented accountability measures built in-providing strong oversight, an historic degree of public transparency, and including no earmarks. The plan creates a new Accountability and Transparency Board that will be working to keep waste and fraud far out of the bill. In addition, all of the plan's details will be published online at http://www.recovery.gov/, so Members of Congress and their constituents can track the success of these efforts.
"We've included in the recovery plan unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency, so our constituents will know that their tax dollars are being spent on getting us out of a recession, not siphoned off by the politically-connected," stated Hoyer. "We know it will take time to turn this economy around, but we are confident that this package will make our economy stronger than it would be without any action."
###