Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement on the importance of the FY ’09 Appropriations Act and how it will benefit the Latino community:
“The road to economic recovery just started, but the first steps are always the most critical. Congress understands this, and has already approved several bills that will take us towards economic recovery. First, we passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which has the immediate goal of creating jobs, and the long term goal of strengthening our economy.”
“As the latest unemployment numbers show us – 651,000 jobs lost in February 2009 and a 10.9% unemployment rate among Latinos – this investment we’re proposing is extremely urgent.” said Reid.
The bill will include help for the 10.9% Latino unemployment rate, which is far above the national level of 8.1%. $1.2 billion of the new bill will help retrain the unemployed and help them with job placement.
For every $1 billion invested in transportation projects between 27,000 and 37,000 jobs are created, and Hispanics represent 25% of the construction labor force. The bill assigns more than $40 million for construction and highway maintenance.
In terms of higher education, the bill will increase the maximum total of Pell Grants per student to $4,850, in which 18% of Pell Grant recipients are Latino. This a $3 billion increase for the program and for the students, representing an $800 boost per student since 2006.
For more information and details of how the Appropriations Bill will help Latinos, please click here.
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