WASHINGTON - Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10) reports that, at today’s one year mark, efforts by Congress to create jobs and rebuild the economy are working. Independent analysis shows the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has saved and created more than 2 million jobs, cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans, offered tax cuts and loans to millions of small businesses and extended unemployment and COBRA health benefits for those looking for work.

“This time last year, our economy was in freefall, losing more than 700,000 jobs a month, cutting into Americans’ retirement savings, freezing lending to small businesses, and hurting families working to make ends meet,” said Rep. Towns. “Working with President Obama, we have been able to save and create more than two million jobs in the first year of a two-year effort and bring our economy back from the brink. We still have a long way to go to put more Americans back to work, but we’re clearly moving in right direction.”

As Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Towns has been focused on preventing waste, fraud and abuse of stimulus funds across the country and has stressed the importance of getting Recovery Act projects under way faster and ensuring stimulus dollars are reaching economically distressed areas.  

In New York alone, the Recovery Act helped save and create more than 141,000 jobs. The Recovery Act was a combination of tax cuts, job-creating projects, and aid to state and local governments to keep teachers, firefighters, and police officers on the job. It has already provided nearly $120 billion in tax relief for American families and businesses, including the Making Work Pay Tax Credit for 229,000 middle-class families here in the 10th District and the first-time homebuyers tax credit used by 58,787 households here in New York.  It has also supported nearly $20 billion in loans to more than 42,000 small businesses across the nation and provided $250 recovery payments to more than 3 million of New York’s seniors and disabled veterans.

To create construction jobs, the legislation has provided funding for 12,500 transportation projects across the country – 8,500 of which are already underway, creating 8,000 jobs here in New York and supporting more than 2,850 construction projects at more than 350 military facilities.  It continues to help create hundreds of thousands of jobs in innovative technology sectors, with $8 billion to start building a high-speed rail network, $7 billion to expand broadband internet across the country, $3.4 billion for smart grid technology, and $2.4 billion to develop clean, advanced vehicle technology.

Economists on both side of the aisle credit the Recovery Act with stemming job losses and keeping the economy from heading into a second Great Depression. And although partisan opponents of the stimulus legislation criticize it on TV and inside the Beltway, they attend ribbon cuttings back in their districts – taking credit for Recovery Act projects and the jobs they create.  

“Our economy is growing at the fastest rate in six years, monthly job losses are 97 percent smaller than when President Bush left office, and we’ve seen millions of jobs created and saved in both the private and public sector,” said Rep. Towns. “But while our country is heading in the right direction, too many New Yorkers are still out of work and too many of our families are struggling to make ends meet. That’s why creating jobs remains my number one priority. I will continue to do everything possible to make sure we rebuild our economy in a way that works for all Americans.”

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