New stimulus package needs cash for infrastructure

Organized labor was pushing lawmakers hard to enact a second stimulus package when the 110th Congress returned for its lame-duck session that started Nov. 17.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and federation Legislative Director Bill Samuel said a “Stimulus II” bill should include extending federal jobless benefits from their current 26 weeks to 39 weeks, billions of dollars in spending for infrastructure projects — rebuilding highways, waterways, bridges and so on that could quickly provide high-paying construction jobs, and extending aid to states to deal with rising costs of Medicaid.

Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden agrees with that plan. Wyden told some Portland union members and local politicians during a post-Election Day tour of the state that a second stimulus package is his top priority.

“Good roads create good jobs in the short term and make commerce hum over the long term,” he said at stops in Portland, Bend, Medford and Eugene. “Oregonians are struggling, and Congress now has a new beginning and an opportunity to invest in people, right here in America.”

In Portland on Nov. 6, Wyden was joined by Sen.-elect Jeff Merkley, Mayor-elect Sam Adams, City Commissioner Randy Leonard, and Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler at a press conference promoting the infrastructure portion of a stimulus package.

Adams said the City has put in a request for $850 million in federal tax dollars to help fix roads and infrastructure in Portland and Multnomah County. He said there are eight “ready-to- go projects” in the area that will immediately create 312 local construction jobs — and more than 8,800 jobs over the next 18 months.

“We have been struggling with bailing wire and used dental floss and some gum to keep the local transportation system together, in addition to our sewers and water systems,” Adams said.

Some of the projects Adams listed include $435 million for replacement of the 100-year-old water reservoirs, $75 million for a Portland Streetcar eastside extension, $68 million in arterial street paving, $22 million in bridge repairs, and $86 million in parks and trails construction.

“These are all projects that need to be done. They aren’t make-work jobs,” said City Commissioner Randy Leonard, who was asked by Adams to spearhead the federal money request.

Senator-elect Merkley “seconded” the strategy, stating that “this sort of stimulus is the type we need in America and we need here in Oregon,” emphasizing that transportation construction can provide living-wage jobs.

State and federal estimates show that every $1 million spent on infrastructure translates into 28 jobs and $3.2 million in total economic activity.

Wheeler said that an infusion of money would allow Multnomah County to shore up a large portion of the more than 300 miles of roads, streets, curbs and sidewalks that the county is responsible for.

“ It will not only put people to work, it will make that infrastructure safer for everybody in our community to use,” he said.

On a larger scale, Wheeler said the county must have federal assistance to rebuild the Sellwood Bridge, the busiest two-lane bridge in the state, carrying more than 30,000 vehicles a day. “We can’t rebuild it alone,” he stated.

Wheeler said the nearly 100-year-old bridge has replacement parts recycled from projects that are more than 120 years old. Weight limits on the bridge, he continued, have been reduced four times, to the point that buses and trucks can no longer cross it. “It is a major transportation liability,” he said.

Leonard, a former president of Fire Fighters Local 43, said investing in infrastructure projects is a good strategy for dealing with a recession and rising unemployment. “It will put people back to work who would otherwise be unemployed and taking unemployment,” he said. “They will have money in their pocket to go out and buy goods and services — get the economy moving.”

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