Primary tabs
Location
The American Jobs Act and the National Urban League 12 Point Plan for Putting Urban America Back to Work
President Obama's American Jobs Act AJA would invest $447 billion in a comprehensive set of job creation proposals. The President's plan essentially endorses three key components of the National Urban League's 12-Point Jobs Plan - the creation of an infrastructure bank, direct job creation and summer jobs for youth. National Urban League President Marc Morial is encouraged by the inclusion of these key NUL proposals and called for expanding them so that resources are distributed "directly to the communities that are hardest-hit by unemployment." The National Urban League believes that, despite an obstructionist Congress, the unemployment crisis is now so dire that the President must pull out every stop and that everyone must fight for America's 14 million unemployed with every weapon at our disposal.
The AJA's creation of an infrastructure bank has enormous potential to stimulate the economy and put Americans to work. Under the President's proposal, an institution would be created that would mobilize significant private investment in economically viable infrastructure projects of regional or national significance in order to create jobs, reduce our infrastructure deficit, and support U.S. competitiveness.
Under direct job creation, the AJA would provide funding to employ teachers and first responders.
The AJA would provide additional funds for summer employment and year-round employment opportunities for low-income youth with a priority to out-of-school youth who are high school dropouts or basic skills deficient and unemployed or underemployed.
This Policy Brief provides additional information on these proposals as well as other key provisions of the American Jobs Act that would contribute to job creation and have an impact on communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment.
