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April 19, 2010
Washington, D.C.—Today the Half in Ten Campaign sent a letter to the House of Representatives urging their support for the Local Jobs for America Act, sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-CA). The campaign worked with our partners in the Jobs for America Now coalition to build support across the country for this crucial piece of legislation. The bill would provide funding to state and local governments, small businesses, and community organizations to create more than 1 million jobs over the next two years.
“We applaud Chairman Miller’s leadership on this bill,” said Melissa Boteach, Half in Ten’s Campaign Manager. “Already more than 300 organizations from 43 states, including labor unions, faith institutions, civil rights organizations, service providers, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, have joined Half in Ten in expressing support for this bill. We look forward to working with these groups to continue building momentum to pass the Local Jobs for America Act.”
March’s unemployment data underscore the need for urgent action. “Low-income families and communities of color in particular are facing Depression-era levels of unemployment,” said Wade Henderson, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and a Half in Ten partner. “It’s clear that this crisis will not somehow resolve itself, which is why this bill represents a critical step in putting all Americans back to work.”
“This bill offers crucial help to the communities hit hardest in this recession,” stated Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs and a Half in Ten partner. “Not only will the bill create jobs, it will save crucial public services and spur demand in local economies.”
“Teachers, small business owners, firefighters, and police officers are a critical part of our local communities,” said Winnie Stachelberg, CAP Action’s Senior Vice President for External Affairs. “By preserving these jobs and creating new employment opportunities for low-income families, this bill is exactly the response that a recession of this magnitude calls for.”
Read the full letter
Half in Ten, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Coalition on Human Needs, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, is a national campaign to cut the U.S. poverty rate in half over the next decade.
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