The bill targets $75 billion directly to municipalities over a two-year period to help them maintain essential services. The money will allow municipal level governments to hold off planned cuts or to hire back workers who have already been laid-off because of tight budgets.
“Our people are struggling; our families are struggling,” said Sablan. “But by investing this money at the grassroots level, I think we can help people keep their jobs and help those who have lost their jobs get back on the payroll.
“I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of this legislation, and I know that the Northern Marianas will benefit from it.”
The bill, H.R. 4812, invests directly in eligible municipal governments and in nonprofit community organizations, and gives them the authority to decide how best to use the funds to maintain essential services.
Introduced on Wednesday, March 10, the measure has broad support from the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the National Association of Counties.
$24 billion of the total funding would help states and territories support 250,000 education jobs, put 5,500 law enforcement officers on the beat, and retain, rehire, and hire firefighters.
H.R. 4812 would also fund approximately 50,000 private-sector, on-the-job training positions to help small businesses put people back to work. Workers will be able to acquire core job skills and important work experience while working for private employers in their own communities.
In all the bill is expected to create 1,000,000 jobs nation-wide.
The new jobs bill comes on the heels of the HIRE Act, H.R. 2847, passed by the House on March 4, which also aims to put people to work. The HIRE Act provides a one-year holiday on Social Security tax for both employers and newly hired workers, who have been unemployed. That amounts to a 6.2 percent reduction in the cost of hiring for the employer and a 6.2 percent increase in wages for the new worker. Employers who keep the new hires on the payroll for a full year will also receive a $1,000 income tax credit.
In the Northern Marianas the cost of the $1,000 credit will be covered over to the CNMI Treasury from the U.S. Treasury — a provision Sablan and other territorial representatives insisted be in the bill.
A vote on the motion to end debate on the HIRE Act was scheduled in the U.S. Senate for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 15.
