Coalition’s proposal for millions of jobs
If there’s one thing that Republicans and Democrats at all levels of government should agree on this Labor Day, it is the need to create more good-paying jobs. One of the best ways to do this is by investing in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. In addition to giving poor states such as New Mexico a much-needed economic boost, such an investment is key to our competitiveness internationally.
Nearly a year into his administration, President Donald Trump has yet to create the thousands — much less millions of jobs he promised in his campaign. Earlier this month, Trump unveiled a portion of his proposed plan to modernize our nation’s infrastructure. While it was the beginning of an important national debate, the challenge with Trump’s current plan is that it relies on giveaways to foreign companies and large private interests and imposes new profit-driven fees on hardworking families. It will make some of his corporate donors and allies even richer, but it will not help most workers by paying living wages with the rights they deserve.
Fortunately, there is a more responsible plan proposed by the Millions of Jobs Coalition, which includes the Working Families Party and several other social and economic justice groups. A bill supporting the plan, House Concurrent Resolution 63, is cosponsored by more than 80 members of Congress and includes a set of principles any infrastructure bill proposed by either side must have to deliver quality jobs and infrastructure for our communities. The Millions of Jobs Coalition’s proposal, using the principles in HCR 63, invests $2 trillion over 10 years, employing 2.5 million people in its first year of rebuilding the nation’s water, energy, transportation and information systems, as well as overhauling unsafe and inefficient schools, homes and buildings.
So far, only one of New Mexico’s three members of the U.S. House, Democrat Rep. Michelle Lujan-Grisham, has signed on to HCR 63. While we would hope Republic Rep. Steve Pearce would consider signing on, realistically, given his affinity with Trump’s agenda, we are not holding our breath. However, we are concerned that Democrat Rep. Ben Ray Luján has not yet signed on to the bill or publicly supported the Millions of Jobs Coalition’s plan as the best solution to our country’s biggest infrastructural problems.
The best way to support job creation in states like New Mexico is to require that critical tenets laid out in HCR 63 are satisfied. New Mexico has crucial infrastructure needs, such as repairing and replacing aging water systems, highways and telecommunications, to name just a few. Placing such vital and needed projects in the hands of speculators and foreign investors is irresponsible and dangerous.
Rumors about Trump’s plan point to a $100 billion handout to the private sector that would come at the expense of existing infrastructure programs, including more than $85 billion in cuts to the Highway Trust Fund.
As members of Congress celebrate Labor Day, and prepare to return to Washington, D.C., in September, we ask that Congressman Luján join the growing number of House Democrats pushing to adopt the Million Jobs Coalition’s proposal. The stakes are too high for Congress to wait to support the right solutions to our country’s infrastructure problems. We need the jobs, and New Mexicans deserve thriving, innovative cities and towns to call home, too.
Eric Griego is state director of the New Mexico Working Families Party and a former state senator. Paul and Laura Stokes are co-state coordinators of Progressive Democrats of America.