Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree issued the following statement today, after Maine Legislative leaders held a press conference urging passage of a jobs bill in Congress.
 
“The jobs bill we passed in the House in December takes TARP money and puts it to work where it’s needed—preserving and creating jobs for Maine families. Wall Street has gotten more than their fair share—they are doing just fine—it’s working families in Maine and across the country who need the help.   We need to get this bill to the President as soon as possible.  It’s high time that Congress start focusing on creating and saving jobs for average Americans.”
 
In December Pingree was the first to speak on the floor of the U.S. House for the Jobs for Main Street Act, telling her colleagues then that “we need to act now, and we need to act fast, to ensure that Main Street recovers.  If we do not act, we will have only ensured that Wall Street keeps their bonuses while American families lose their benefits.  We will have only watched Wall Street get rid of their debt, while small businesses take on more.”
 
“We’ve already put more than enough into shoring up Wall Street, now we need to focus on creating jobs for the average American that will rebuild our economy from the bottom up,” Pingree said.
 
The bill, which passed the House December 16, redirects $75 billion of TARP funds to invest in infrastructure, job training and to hire and retain teachers, firefighters and police officers.
 
The Jobs for Main Street Act invests $48 billion in roads and bridges, school renovation, clean water and housing.  The bill provides for $27 billion to hire and retain teachers, firefighters and police officers.  In addition, the bill extends emergency unemployment benefits through next June and extends a 65% subsidy for COBRA coverage for laid-off workers, also through June of 2010.