Virginia Jobs First

These are a few of the job creating bills that Democratic Delegates filed in 2011 to help put Jobs First.  Unfortunately, many of these ideas were stopped by Republicans in the House of Delegates.

HB2112 – Delegate Ward Armstrong – Incorporated into HB1542 by Del. Kilgore.  Passed the House 99-0
Governor’s Development Opportunity Fund.  Lowers the minimum private investment to qualify for incentives from the Governor’s Development Opportunity Fund for localities with a population of less than 50,000 or between 50,000 and 100,000 that also have unemployment rates one and one-half times or more the state average.

HB 1549 – Delegate Kay Kory – Left in General Laws Committee
Provides for the Department of General Services to establish procurement procedures to facilitate the purchase of Virginia-grown food products by state agencies and institutions and local public school divisions to the maximum extent possible. The bill also provides local school divisions with an exemption from competitive sealed bidding under certain circumstances when procuring Virginia-grown food products for student consumption.

HJ 663 – Delegate Joe Morrissey – Left in Rules Committee
Employment First initiative; report.  Requests the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to develop and implement an Employment First initiative for the Commonwealth to increase opportunities for meaningful employment in integrated community settings for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

HB 1870 – Delegate David Toscano – Left in General Laws Committee
Requires any business entity that receives a development subsidy to file an annual report.   The bill defines development subsidy as any expenditure of public funds with a value of at least $25,000 expended for the purposes of stimulating economic development and job creation in the Commonwealth, and including bonds, grants, loan guarantees, fee waivers, price subsidies, tax abatement, tax exemptions, or tax credits.

The Associated Press and MSNBC report on the devastating impact that the recession has had on younger workers, many trying to get their first jobs in a tough economy.  This underscores why we need to focus on creating jobs and improving education so we don’t lose the talents of these hardworking young Virginians.

To read the full article click here: AP: “Recession yields a lost generation of workers”

The non-partisan Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis recently released a report on policies that can help create jobs in Virginia.  While not every proposal may be realistic, it’s a good place to begin the conversation.  Send us a comment on which you think are the best ideas.

You can find the full report on their website at: http://www.thecommonwealthinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/110900_getting_virginia_back_to_work_web_w_anchors.pdf

Virginia’s unemployment rate rose in August to 6.3% as over 9500 jobs were lost, underscoring why we need to focus on Jobs First!

Read the whole article by John Blackwell at:  http://www2.timesdispatch.com/business/2011/sep/16/4/virginias-jobless-rate-rose-in-august-from-july-ar-1314989/

Posted by CNN Money, Fortune Magazine recently talked with Former President Bill Clinton about ways that Congress and the President can start creating jobs. While his comments focus more on how the federal government can create jobs and not all of them might translate to state government, it’s an important discussion about how to start creating jobs now.