Article

Getting Americans Back to Work and Good Jobs

Karla Walter outlines key steps that must be taken to ensure that pandemic-response infrastructure investments create high-quality jobs for all working Americans.

House Democrats recently unveiled the Moving Forward Act, a bill that would invest $1.5 trillion to modernize America’s physical infrastructure. The legislation would get millions of Americans back to work and ensure that communities can make long-overdue improvements to highways and rail and transit systems. In addition, it goes even further to support economic recovery by investing in health care, airports, clean energy, broadband, education, and drinking water infrastructure. As the country emerges from the global pandemic, such a major infrastructure investment will be critical to the nation’s economic recovery.

Moreover, the proposed package takes several positive steps to ensure that its investments support high-quality jobs. In order for any infrastructure package to create widely shared economic benefits, Congress must also ensure that all companies benefiting from infrastructure spending create good jobs that are accessible to Americans of all walks of life.

The above excerpt was originally published in Center for American Progress. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Karla Walter

Senior Fellow, Inclusive Economy