Luke Messer sent out this little tidbit on January 14th - “Another disappointing jobs report. It's time for the Democratic-controlled Senate to vote on the dozens of bills passed by the House last session that would spur economic growth and create jobs!”
I agree that jobs are are everyone’s mind, especially the unemployed that just lost their benefits. The economy added only 74,000 jobs in December, far below forecasts, but the Labor Department reports that the unemployment rate last month fell to 6.7% from 7%. Another mixture of good news and bad news for an economy recovering from recession.
Job growth has been slow but it's been steadily improving every year. It’s just not good enough. But what bills has the House passed to "spur economic growth and create jobs"? I looked online to see what “Jobs Bills” passed the House in 2013 and the only list I was able to find was on Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s website. Cantor claims that House Republicans have passed 40 jobs bills that are currently stuck in the Democrat controlled Senate. I actually came up with 41 remaining on the list. Several of the bills on the list had actually already been signed into law by the President and many were holdovers from 2011 and 2012.
Lane Siekman
January 16, 2014
But there's a big problem with Luke Messer’s “jobs” bills: They don't create jobs. At least, they won't any time soon. His list includes many bills that don’t even remotely have job creation as their purpose. Using THOMAS, the legislative-tracking website run by the Library of Congress, you can search bills that have been offered during the current Congress -- the 113th -- by their CRS subject matter. There were no bills filed under job creation in 2013. These bills are instead mostly highly partisan attempts to slash regulations that protect, among other things, public health, consumer rights, workplace safety and the environment. (Try the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act)
This Congress is dead-set against using traditional forms of government-based economic stimulus to create jobs. So if "job creation" is defined to primarily include these types of initiatives, then the current Congress isn't going to be sponsoring any "job creation" bills. Instead, proponents argue that these regulatory changes, tax cuts, and budget cutting will help the economy prosper. We have heard this tune for at least 10 out of the past 14 years and it doesn't appear to be working. You might that think that’s time for a jobs bill that actually puts people to work. I know where there is a bridge that needs fixed.
Lane Siekman
January 16, 2014
H. Res. 72 - Review of Federal Regulations
H.R. 872 - Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act
H.R. 910 - Energy Tax Prevention Act
H.J. Res. 37 - Disapproval of FCC's Net Neutrality Regulations
H.R. 2018 - Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act
H.R. 1315 - Consumer Financial Protection & Soundness Improvement Act
H.R. 2587 - Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act
H.R. 2401 - Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act
H.R. 2681 - Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act
H.R. 2250 - EPA Regulatory Relief Act
H.R. 2273 - Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act
H.R. 3094 - Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act
H.R. 3010 - Regulatory Accountability Act
H.R. 527 - Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act
H.R. 10 - REINS Act
H.R. 1633 - Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act
H.R. 1837 -Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliabilty Act
H.R. 2087 - Land in Accomack County, Virginia
H.R. 4078 - Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act
H.R. 5544 - Minnesota Education Investment and Employment Act
H.R. 9 - Small Business Tax Cut Act
H.R. 436 -Health Care Cost Reduction Act
H.R. 8 - Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act
H.R. 6169 - Pathway to Job Creation through a Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act
H.R. 1904 - Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act
H.R. 4402 - National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012
H.R. 2433 - Veterans Opportunity to Work Act
H.R. 3012 -Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act
H.R. 6429 - STEM Jobs Act
H.R. 1230 - Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act
H.R. 1229 - Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act
H.R. 1231 - Reversing President Obama'a Offshore Moratorium Act
H.R. 2021 - Jobs and Energy Permitting Act
H.R. 1938 - North American-Made Energy Security Act
H.R. 3408 - Protecting Next Generation Energy Security (PIONEERS) Act
H.R. 2842 - Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act
H.R. 2578 - Conservation and Economic Growth Act
H.R. 4480 - Domestic Energy and Jobs Act
H.R. 6082 - Congressional Replacement of President Obama's Energy-Restricting and Job-Limiting Offshore Drilling Plan
H.R. 3409 -Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act
H.R. 2560 - Cut, Cap, and Balance