Last night in a joint address to Congress, President Obama laid forth a $447 billion plan designed to put Americans back to work and jumpstart the struggling economy. The proposed package includes $245 billion in tax cuts, $140 billion in investments in infrastructure and local aid, and $62 billion in continued unemployment benefits. To ensure that the American Jobs Act is fully paid for, the President stated that he would call on the Joint Committee to come up with additional deficit reduction necessary to pay for the act and still meet its deficit target. It is expected that President Obama will release a more detailed plan in the coming days. Here is what we know of the plan at this point:
Tax Cuts
– The President’s plan will cut in half the taxes paid by businesses on their first $5 million in payroll
– An Employer payroll tax holiday for added workers or increased wages
– Tax credit to employers for hiring long-term unemployed workers
– “Returning Heroes” hiring tax credit for veterans
Infrastructure and Local Aid
– Prevent up to 280,000 teacher layoffs, keep cops and firefighters working
– Modernize approximately 35,000 public schools around the country by investing $25 billion that will create jobs, improve classrooms, and upgrade schools
– An immediate investment in roads, railroads, and airports to help modernize the nation’s infrastructure, put construction workers back on the job, invest in NextGen Air Traffic Modernization efforts
– Expand access to high-speed wireless, especially in remote rural areas
Unemployment
– Ensure that 6 million people do not use unemployment insurance
– Expand job opportunities for low-income youth and adults
We will have further analysis on the details of this proposed package as more information is released from the White House in the coming days.