By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-984533.mp3
Dallas, TX – The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness is on the road for a series of "listening sessions" before the President unveils his jobs plan next week. At a stop in Dallas, at SMU, the Jobs Council focused the marriage of transportation projects and job creation. KERA's BJ Austin reports.
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told the SMU audience, "anytime you see an orange cone or orange barrel you know your friends and neighbors are working in good paying jobs."
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, a Jobs Council member, hopes Congress will see it that way and quickly pass an extension of the surface transportation bill before funding runs out completely September 30th.
Trumka: There's never been a bipartisan fight over it because it's a no-brainer. It's absolutely essential for the country. It's absolutely essential for us to remain competitive because no business can compete with infrastructure that's falling down.
Trumka says the U.S. has a 2.2 Trillion dollar backlog of infrastructure needs.
On the business side, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Tom Donohue says unemployment is the U.S. is really higher than 9% and government investment in "infrastructure" can create jobs where they're needed most.
Donohue: People that were building houses, building infrastructure they're 30% unemployment. And if we're going to do something that's exactly where we need to start.
How to pay for that investment is another thing. Donohue is in favor of raising the gasoline tax. He says it hasn't been done in 18 years. Secretary LaHood says NOW, when so many families are struggling, is not the time to raise the tax on fuel.
SMU economist Mike Davis wanted guarantees that pet projects of politicians would not get the lion's share of increased government money for road, rail and airport projects. Secretary LaHood responded that earmarks are dead and projects would be decided on merit. But Davis is not convinced.
Davis: They tend to projects that would have been done anyhow. They fund projects that aren't necessary to do or a waste of money. Infrastructure spending as part of the stimulus package has not worked. And it's hard to believe they're just going to somehow get it right this time.
Secretary LaHood says over the past two years, government investment in transportation projects created 65 thousand jobs. The President spells out his jobs plan to a joint session of Congress on Thursday.