WASHINGTON, DC — The White House today released a fact sheet offering state-specific details on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which will create and save jobs in the near future and make important investments in laying the foundation for a strong economic future.
Among the many benefits Rhode Island will receive from this economic recovery package:
- Creating or saving 13,000 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector. [Source: White House Estimate based on Romer and Bernstein, “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” January 9, 2009.]
- Providing a making work pay tax cut of up to $1,000 for 470,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President’s Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers’ paychecks. [Source: White House Estimate based on IRS Statistics of Income]
- Making 14,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide – and 14,000 families in Rhode Island – new assistance to put college within their reach. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census data]
- Offering an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 86,000 workers in Rhode Island who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 17,000 laid-off workers. [Source: National Employment Law Project]
- Providing funding sufficient to modernize at least 37 schools in Rhode Island so our children have the labs, classrooms and libraries they need to compete in the 21st century economy. [Source: White House Estimate]
“Make no mistake about it, the need for action on this bill is dire. Rhode Island’s unemployment rate has doubled over the last two years. Two years ago 28,611 Rhode Islanders were looking for work and today over 56,000 men and women are unemployed. We need to reverse this trend and put people back to work in good, high-paying jobs. We are working with President Obama to begin to turn the tide by saving or creating 13,000 jobs in Rhode Island over the next two years and provide tax cuts for 470,000 families so that more people will see an increase in their paychecks. After eight years of economic mismanagement by the Bush Administration we need to reinvest in the American people and reestablish a sense of hope, a sense of progress, and a sense of opportunity in our state,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed.
“We can’t afford stall tactics and delay when tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders are out of a job, and many more families are struggling to make ends meet,” said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. “The recovery plan will put our state back to work, cut taxes and provide other needed relief for people who need help the most, and make smart, valuable investments in our present and our future. It’s time to pass this bill and begin to jump-start our faltering economy.”
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