Getting Rhode Island To Work:
A Jobs and Economic Recovery Proposal

Introduction: Wall Street Got Bailed Out, Main Street Got Left Out

In 2008, amidst cries of ‘too big to fail,’ Congress took decisive action to rescue the banking industry, funneling $700 billion in public dollars to the banks to ease their self-imposed crisis. Rhode Island’s families were hit hard and early by the national recession1 — but Rhode Islanders and people across the country are still waiting for Congress to take action on their behalf with the same urgency with which it supported the banks. In fact, the very same corporate interests whose irresponsible and greedy behavior precipitated the financial crisis have been roadblocks to recovery.

Today unemployment in Rhode Island hovers around 12%, and under-employment makes the crisis even worse. Record numbers of Rhode Islanders are counting on our state’s food banks to keep their families from going hungry2. Too many Rhode Island families are forced to choose between paying their mortgage or rent and putting food on the table.

Just as Congress rallied to keep the banks afloat, Congress must act now to put Rhode Island and America back to work and build the foundation for a strong economy for decades to come. Congress needs to hold Wall Street accountable for the crisis it created and needs to act now to ensure that it never happens again. We need a jobs and economic recovery plan that recognizes that America’s families are too important to fail.

It’s not going to be easy: the entities dominating this debate don’t share the interests of ordinary Rhode Islanders. The big banks, the big insurance companies, big fossil fuel companies, and other powerful corporations have self-interests in maintaining business as usual. As a State Representative and City Councilman I have fought to defend the interests of working families, standing up to the banks, utilities companies, corporate developers, and other powerful interests that dominate politics. We need a Congressman in Washington who will act on behalf of ordinary Rhode Islanders.

My top priority in Congress will be to support legislation that puts Rhode Island and America back to work, supports small businesses — the engine of our economic recovery — and proposes a Green New Deal for the country. It’s predicated on 7 planks — we must:

We can pay for a recovery plan like this without expanding the nation’s deficit, by imposing a small, 0.25% tax on the largest transactions on Wall Street, bringing the troops home now, and ending the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Creating jobs must be our government’s highest priority: Leaving a leaky roof alone only increases expenses in the long run — and all across America, it’s pouring outside.

 

Support Small Business – The Engine of Our Economic Recovery

Small businesses employ 85% of the privately employed workforce in Rhode Island3, and support for small business must be the foundation of our economic recovery. The Wall Street banks were bailed out with $700 billion of public money, yet they continue to refuse to lend to many deserving small businesses. One of the largest hurdles to getting our economy moving forward and getting people back to work is that small businesses cannot acquire the loans they need. We need Congress to stand up to the Wall Street banks and enact legislation that:

Invest in a Green New Deal

Investing $100 billion in the greening of our economy over the next two years would create an estimated 2 million jobs nationwide.4 This will put people to work today building the foundation for a strong economy in years to come, while moving us toward energy security and significantly lowering our greenhouse emissions.

Congress can put millions of Americans back to work by investing in a Green New Deal that would include:

Invest In Public Transit

Every one dollar spent on public transit infrastructure generates between three and four dollars of economic activity.6 Public transit investments create jobs immediately — by the end of 2009, ARRA’s public transportation initiatives produced nearly twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in roads did7 — and also create jobs in the long term, as private businesses build around transit hubs. These investments generate enough new economic activity and increased tax revenues that they nearly pay for themselves.

Congress must act to support public transit and new jobs by:

Expand Access to Higher Education and Target Job-Growth Industries

We have a changing economy and the demand for higher education and workforce development and training is skyrocketing.8 But states across the country are slashing funding to public education, putting it out of reach for too many people. Over the last five years Rhode Island has cut funding to higher education by 29.1 percent,9 resulting in higher tuition, fewer class choices, and larger class sizes.

Congress can put higher education in reach for every student, and can ensure that states have the resources they need to fully fund and expand our state’s adult education and workforce training programs by:

Support Critical State Programs and Public Education

Rhode Island cities and towns are too dependent on punitive property taxes in order to make ends meet. Our overreliance on property taxes hits working families and small businesses hardest. 51% of the taxes that businesses pay in state and local taxes are in property taxes, compared to the national average of 35.5%.10

Reward Hard Work

Today too many working people hold two or even three jobs and still struggle to make ends meet. A real economic recovery will ensure that hard work is rewarded so that people earn enough to take care of themselves and their families. To achieve this we need to promote equal pay for equal work, and labor law reform that will strengthen workers’ rights.

Women, on average, earn 19% less than the typical male worker, at the same time the number of households that depend on women wage earners has expanded dramatically.11

When workers have a voice on the job, they make on average 28% more than nonunion workers, and their families are much more likely to have job-sponsored health care coverage.12 Yet labor law is often stacked against workers who organize collectively, doing too little too late to protect their collective bargaining rights.13

Protect American Jobs and Family Farms

Just as environmental and labor advocates warned, trade agreements like NAFTA have proved to be a raw deal for the American people. Rhode Island lost 4,482 jobs to NAFTA alone14, and nationwide more than 1.5 million American jobs have been outsourced due to NAFTA.15 Corporate lobbyists continue to spend big dollars to ensure that our trade agreements benefit their bottom line at the expense of American workers. Trade agreements today give corporations incentives to lay off U.S. workers and move jobs overseas where they can wreak havoc on the environment and pay their workers sub poverty wages.

Hold Wall Street Accountable and Put Working Families First

We can pay for a recovery plan like this without adding to the nation’s deficit, by imposing a small, 0.25% tax on the largest transactions on Wall Street, bringing the troops home now, and ending the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

Over the course of two years, $300 billion can be raised through such a program and be used towards to creation of new jobs in Rhode Island, and across America.16