WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today attended a hearing entitled “Competing Job Creation Strategies” where he questioned leading economists on the economy and job creation strategies. Senator Casey questioned the witnesses on legislation he is working on with Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to implement a job creation tax credit.
“The Recovery bill we passed is beginning to work,” said Senator Casey. “I hope further down the road we are able to say it is really working. But we still have a ways to go.”
Nationally, the Congressional Budget Office recently said it estimates that the package sustained between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs in the third quarter and raised the gross domestic product by between 1.2 to 3.2 percentage points higher than it would have been without the program.
Senator Casey went on to say, “I hear it from my constituents and you see in the papers- the depth of joblessness in the U.S. and its effect on families. We can’t forget that despite our efforts, people are still hurting. Small businesses continue to struggle to gain access to credit. Jobless rates nationwide remain too high, foreclosures continue to increase in many regions and consumer confidence continues to wane. Families are cutting back on doctors’ visits. As we are debating these issues, we can’t lose sight of how much of an emotional wrecking ball this is for American families.”
He continued, “Senators Feingold, Gillibrand and I are working on legislation that provides tax incentives to encourage hiring. This is one immediate step we can take. But we must thoroughly examine what else we can do to accelerate job growth in the next six months or a year.”
Senator Casey stressed that any legislative effort designed to encourage job creation in the short term should focus on bolstering small business’ access to capital, implement job creation tax credits to spur hiring and invest in transportation and infrastructure projects that can put people back to work.
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