Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) today (Monday, Feb. 1) released his priorities for any jobs creation bill brought to the Senate floor.

In a letter to Senate leadership and chairmen of the relevant committees, Sen. Franken called for a two-pronged approach to creating jobs and stimulating the Main Street economy.

“Enough has been done to stabilize Wall Street,” said Sen. Franken. “Now it’s time to get Main Street back in order. Luckily, the path to job-creation is clear: support unemployed workers and their families while investing in the professions that have made our country great.  That means a jobs bill that incentivizes hiring, improves our communities, and maintains a reliable safety net for families.”

Sen. Franken called for direct jobs-creation provisions, including a direct wage subsidy for small businesses to create jobs and grants to retrofit public buildings.

Franken introduced his “Cash for Jobs” legislation last week (S. 2952) to rapidly create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the private and public sectors. The legislation was modeled on a program used effectively in Minnesota in the 1980’s, called the Minnesota Emergency Employment Development (MEED) program.
http://franken.senate.gov/press/?page=release&release_item=Franken_Introduces_Cash_For_Jobs_Bill

“MEED created thousands of jobs in Minnesota,” said Sen. Franken. “It has enormous potential to do the same on a national level. I urge the inclusion of this program into the Senate jobs creation package.”

Sen. Franken also called for investment in infrastructure and public jobs, as well as stimulation of small business lending.

Sen. Franken writes that social safety net provisions must also be a part of the jobs-creation package, including an extension for COBRA subsidies and unemployment insurance. Sen. Franken also calls for expanded eligibility for free school meals to be included in the bill, modeled on the proposal in his Expand School Meals Act, introduced in October last year. http://franken.senate.gov/press/?page=release&release_item=The_Expand_School_Meals_Act

“Our bill should aim not only to create jobs, but also to help unemployed workers meet their families’ basic needs while they look for work,” said Sen. Franken.

“In this tough economy, an increasing number of children are being turned away from the school lunch counter because their parents cannot afford to pay even the reduced price for lunch. We can help alleviate the effects of the recession on these kids by temporarily making them eligible for free school meals.”