Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Backs American Jobs Act

MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ISSUES STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S AMERICAN JOBS ACT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued the following statement today regarding President Obama’s American Jobs Act:

“Tonight President Obama delivered a strong and clear message to Congress: The silly season in Washington is over and it's time to get to work creating jobs for the American people.

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.

The President outlined several initiatives and I support them all. But there is one that could create up to 166,000 transportation jobs in LA right away.

I thank the President for calling for a $50 billion investment in transportation job creation. The President's plan includes an expansion of TIFIA, a program within the Department of Transportation to help finance locally funded projects, that will help cities across the country put people to work building new rail lines, bridges, airports, and highways.

My national transportation investment plan, America Fast Forward, includes a similar expansion of TIFIA. More than 120 Democratic and Republican mayors support America Fast Forward. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO support America Fast Forward. House Chairman Mica included an expansion of TIFIA in his transportation proposal. U.S. Senator Boxer and U.S. Senator Inhofe included an expansion of TIFIA, called America Fast Forward, in their bi-partisan transportation bill. Congress should extend the transportation bill immediately to protect jobs. Congress should then pass an expansion of TIFIA to put more than 1 million Americans to work across the country.

This Monday, I will break ground on a rail project that will create more than 10,000 jobs. This year, with the support of Congress and the expansion of TIFIA, we could move swiftly to break ground on several other projects that would put 166,000 people to work in LA.