Jobs News

The American Jobs Act: Fueling Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Ed. Note: The following is a cross-post that originally appeared on the Office Of Science and Technology Policy blog.

President Obama just unveiled the American Jobs Act, an ambitious plan to create jobs across the country and put more money in the pockets of American workers and businesses – all without adding a dime to the deficit.

The President’s jobs plan, specifically crafted to garner quick bipartisan support, also promises to dramatically accelerate the pace of American innovation and the success of U.S. entrepreneurs, who have historically been responsible for virtually all new job growth across the country.  Here are five highlights:

1. Boosting access to capital for high-growth companies:  America’s most innovative companies need equity capital to grow and hire faster.  As part of the President’s Startup America initiative, the Administration will work to unlock this capital through smart regulatory changes that are consistent with investor protection.  This means reducing the disproportionately high costs that smaller companies face when going public, as well as raising the cap on “mini” public offerings (Regulation A) from $5 million to $50 million.  It also means responsibly allowing startups to raise money through “crowdfunding” – gathering many small-dollar investments that add up to as much as $1 million.  Right now, entrepreneurs like these bakers and these gadget-makers are already using crowdfunding platforms to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in pure donations – imagine the possibilities if these small-dollar donors became investors with a stake in the venture.  Steve Case, chairman of the Startup America Partnership, noted after he joined the First Lady as a guest at the President's speech, that "High-growth entrepreneurial businesses have been responsible for nearly all of the net jobs created in the last three decades – so policies that make it easier for entrepreneurs to start and expand companies must be at the epicenter of any jobs effort. While Republicans and Democrats don't seem to agree on much these days, they do agree that entrepreneurs hold the key to a bright economic future. Therefore, I hope both parties will put politics and partisanship aside, and work together to ensure the success of the next generation of great American companies."
    
2. Turning job-seekers into job-creators:  Through innovative use of Federal unemployment insurance funds, all 50 states will have the flexibility to support long-term unemployed workers who create their own jobs by starting their own companies.  A few states already have these self-employment assistance (SEA) programs, many of which have been remarkably successful.  For example, SEA allowed two unemployed software developers to co-found a new mobile advertising company in 2009 – and today that company has raised $6.5 million in venture capital, employs 28 workers, and plans to hire many more.
    
3. Unleashing innovation in wireless high-speed Internet:  Bipartisan, job-creating legislation will speed deployment of high-speed wireless Internet service to at least 98% of Americans, including those in remote rural communities like the students using online learning tools who met the President on his trip to Marquette, Michigan.  By freeing up spectrum through private-sector incentive auctions, this plan will also reduce the deficit while creating a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public safety, as recommended by the 9/11 Commission.
    
4. Modernizing more than 35,000 schools:  Investing $25 billion in K-12 school infrastructure will put thousands of construction workers back on the job—with new science labs and Internet-ready classrooms a priority, in keeping with the President’s Educate to Innovate campaign to make American students the world’s best in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
    
5. Making government services transparent to job creators:  The President has directed both his CIO and CTO to launch BusinessUSA within 90 days.  This one-stop online platform will provide access to information about the full range of government programs and services businesses need to compete globally – and it will represent the next major accomplishment of the Open Government Initiative.
    

The President’s jobs plan includes plenty of other important initiatives to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship, including $1 billion to support NextGen air traffic modernization, a new National Infrastructure Bank, and skills-based training for low-income youth and adults to help them enter the innovation economy.  It will put Americans back to work in the near term, while further strengthening our long-term foundation for growth.  We believe Congress should come together in response to the President’s call to action, and  “Pass this bill right away.”

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer.

Tom Kalil is Deputy Director for Policy at OSTP.

Find out more about the American Jobs Act 

Organizations and Businesses Respond to the American Jobs Act

On Thursday, President Obama introduced the American Jobs Act, and called on Congress to pass it quickly so we can put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans. Now organizations and businesses are adding their voice to the call for action

Teamsters, Jim Hoffa, General President
“Congress must pass President Obama’s plan now. The jobs crisis is an American problem. It isn’t President Obama’s problem and it isn’t a Republican or Democratic problem. All Americans need to come together to create good jobs for the good of our economy and the good of our country.”

Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Mary Kay Henry, President
“Tonight, President Obama displayed the leadership America needs by laying out a strong agenda to get America back to work. The proposals he outlined are an excellent starting point in the crucial effort to create good jobs now.”

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Joseph Hansen, President
 “President Obama’s plan for job creation, including a private fund to rebuild our roads and schools, a tax cut for companies that hire workers and help for the long-term unemployed, is a good start.  The nation’s job crisis demands leadership from President Obama, but he cannot revive the economy alone.  Bold leadership is also needed from Republicans in Congress and the business community in order to create jobs that can support a family and rebuild the middle class.”

Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Terry O’Sullivan, General President
“We applaud President Obama's bold, smart, progressive plan for putting Americans back to work. At its foundation, The American Jobs Act is based on something we’ve always believed – if America wants to continue being a great nation, it needs to outbuild its rivals and ensure it has the greatest transportation system in the world.”

The Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA), Joseph J. Nigro, General President
“Last night, President Obama displayed the leadership America needs by outlining out a strong agenda to get America back to work. Action is needed on these proposals now to get America moving again.”

American Jobs Act: Read All the Details

President Barack Obama outlines the details of the American Jobs Act during an address to a Joint Session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 8, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

On Thursday September 8, President Obama presented the American Jobs Act in an address to Congress. The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans.  We've created some fact sheets you can download that explain what the President is asking Congress to do, and what the Jobs Act will mean for you.

Read the complete American Jobs Act that President Obama sent to Congress

Download the highlights of the Jobs Act

Read the complete overview of the Jobs Act

See what impact the American Jobs Act will have in your state

Watch the enhanced version of the President's Address to Congress which features graphs, charts and other facts that influenced the President's decision making.

Find out how state and local officials are responding to the American Jobs Act

Still have more questions? Join senior White House officials on Twitter next week for office hours 

Find out more about the American Jobs Act

State and Local Officials Respond to the President’s Call for an American Jobs Act

Following the President’s speech where he called on Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, bi-partisan governors, mayors, and state legislators have spoken out and echoed the President’s call to put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans.

Mesa, Arizona Mayor Scott Smith:

It is encouraging to hear the President's proposal include business-friendly concepts such as expanded tax cuts and smart infrastructure investment.  I am also encouraged that job creation and deficit reduction are mutual goals.

Los Angeles, California Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa:

President Obama delivered a strong and clear message to Congress, the silly season in Washington is over. After spending the better part of the year trading jabs, Congress must now turn its attention to creating jobs. The President's plan is practical enough to pass Congress with the inclusion of bipartisan policy proposals. It is also bold enough to have the impact our country needs to build our way out of this historic economic challenge.

San Francisco, California Mayor Ed Lee:

President Obama’s speech tonight must be a wakeup call to leaders from Washington to Sacramento to San Francisco that it’s time to put politics aside and unite around our nation’s number one priority – creating jobs. The President’s call for aid to cities and states and a renewed commitment to infrastructure investments will directly boost our efforts to create jobs here in San Francisco and keep our City’s economy moving on the right track.

Small Businesses Creating Jobs is the Core of the American Jobs Act

Karen Mills, SBA Administrator

Anyone who saw President Obama speak last night knows that helping small businesses create jobs is the core of the American Jobs Act.  The President laid out powerful, bipartisan, specific, paid-for proposals that will help put America back to work now. This includes:

• Cutting in half the payroll taxes for small businesses for the first $5 million in wages
• Temporarily eliminating employer payroll taxes for small businesses that create jobs or give raises above the prior year
• Extending an immediate 100% expensing write-off to encourage businesses to invest in more machinery and equipment
• Large tax credits (up to $4,000) for businesses that hire unemployed workers, with bigger credits (up to $9,600) for hiring unemployed veterans and service-disabled veterans
• Powerful investments in schools, roads, rail, and airports while helping small business contractors compete for infrastructure contracts
• Making it easier for States to allow unemployed workers to create their own jobs by starting their own business

America’s small businesses – like DynaLabs that I’m visiting today in St. Louis – are counting on Congress to turn this plan into reality. 

Founded in 2003, Dynalabs specializes in using cutting-edge technologies to provide quality-assurance services to large medical companies.  They recently increased their staff by nearly 50%, and they will soon open a new facility to possibly add even more jobs to meet demand.  We need to make sure they have every incentive to hire their next workers as quickly as possible.

As the President said, the Administration is moving forward with ideas that don’t need Congressional action, such as paying small businesses more quickly for federal contracts and cutting the red tape that prevents many fast-growing startups from get the capital they need through things like “crowdfunding.”

We need Congress to join us in putting small businesses first and getting the job done.  If they do the right thing, the American Jobs Act will empower the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and small business owners to do what they do best: create good jobs, drive competitiveness and innovation, and strengthen economic security for the middle class.

The time to act is now.

Find out more about the American Jobs Act

American Jobs Act: Get the Facts

This evening, the President addressed a joint session of Congress and presented the American Jobs Act, a comprehensive plan to put America back to work. It was created from a set of ideas supported by both Democrats and Republicans, and it acknowledges that if we are going to restore America's middle class, we need to rebuild the economy the American way, based on balance, fairness and the same set of rules for everyone from Wall Street to Main Street.

Viewers who tuned in to watch it live-streamed from whitehouse.gov/live got an enhanced experience, one that included real time graphic elements that explained the research and the facts that helped inform some of aspects of the American Jobs Act. And now you can watch it that way, too.

• Download the fact sheet

Flip through the enhanced graphics slideshow below:

Your Voice Makes a Difference in Putting America Back to Work

In the midst of all the Washington noise over debt ceilings and deficits, federal budgets, and continuing resolutions, it’s hard for people to believe that their voice makes a difference. As the Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, I’m here to tell you that it does - and that especially this summer, during one of the most historic fights in our fiscal history - it did.

When Republicans called for a budget that would have ended Medicare as we know it, made catastrophic cuts to Medicaid, cut investments in education by 25%, clean energy by 70% and infrastructure spending by 30% - voices from around the country made clear they did not support this direction for our country.

In between your full-time job, cooking dinners, shuttling kids to birthday parties, and caring for ailing family members (just to name a few of the things that keep us all, myself included, a little sleep-deprived), you made your voices heard by attending town hall meetings, posting hundreds of blogs and sharing thousands of Tweets. Make no mistake – the chorus of your collective voices made a profound impact on protecting programs and investments in our future we care about.

Tonight the President will lay out his plan to put America back to work.  If you agree with President Obama’s vision – don’t stay silent. We know how hard you worked this summer, and we know how busy you’ll be this fall, but if you want to see Washington put politics aside, and pass the President’s jobs plan – then let us hear from you. 

Jon Carson is Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement.

Find out more about the American Jobs Act

Watch: Senior White House Advisor Previews President's Jobs Speech

Tonight President Obama will be addressing a joint session of Congress to share a plan to create jobs and grow our economy. His Senior Advisor, David Plouffe, who was with the President as he crafted the strategy, says we can expect to hear the President detail a plan that will rebuild our economy by making sure those that work hard and play by the rules are not left behind, and that the President will issue a challenge to Congress to meet their responsibilities in the same way everyone around the country has stepped up to meet their own.

Watch the video of Senior Advisor David Plouffe previewing the President's jobs speech.

You can watch the President's speech live tonight at 7 pm EST on any of the major networks, or come to www.whitehouse.gov/live to see an enhanced web presentation.

Find out more about the American Jobs Act

President Obama: Our Biggest Challenge Right Now Is Putting People to Work

Watch the President's Rural Town Hall here.

During the first stop on his rural road trip, President Obama took questions on topics ranging from using renewable energy to create jobs and helping young farmers buy land and market their products effectively to the future of Social Security and his Administration’s plans to bolster education.

Speaking with a crowd of 500 people at Hannah’s Bend Park in Cannon Falls, MN, the President discussed the “extraordinary challenges” our nation has faced over the last two and a half years, but extolled the “extraordinary hope that America represents” around the world, and reiterated his belief that there is “nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed; what’s broken is our politics.”

Many of the questions focused on health care, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, and the President stressed his commitment to making sure we preserve the integrity of these programs while ensuring they are still in place for future generations: