Election day 2010 could become "Fire a Construction
Worker Day," if the Republicans win control of Congress.
That's because the Republican leadership in Congress has promised
to cancel millions of dollars in infrastructure spending -- and forget about
paying for new infrastructure projects. That could mean unemployment for
thousands of construction workers.
"There is no reason to wait to reduce wasteful and
unnecessary spending," according to the Republican "A Pledge to
America," released September 22. "Congress should move immediately to
cancel unspent “stimulus” funds, and block any attempts to extend the timeline
for spending “stimulus” funds."
There are billions of the $787 billion in Stimulus
funds that hasn't been spent yet. Almost all of that left over money will be
spent building things. That makes sense, since construction projects take the
longest to organize. The $237 billion in Stimulus tax cuts went out
immediately. The hundreds of billions that went to fill holes in state and
local budgets also rapidly was spent.
How many construction jobs will be lost if unspent Stimulus
funds are cancelled? It's hard to say -- though common sense shows that
hundreds of thousands of jobs may be lost.
That's because big construction jobs rarely have just one
source of funds. Many local, state, and federal programs all contribute a little
bit. Mixing funds means that more entities have a stake in making sure a
project gets built on time and on budget. It also allows more politicians and
officials to attend the ribbon cutting and take credit for the deal.
Take the rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Bridge. The work on
the Brooklyn Bridge was already planned and paid for before the Stimulus bill
passed in 2009. After the Stimulus passed, $30 million went into the Brooklyn
Bridge project. It's a small amount of the total, half a billion dollar budget,
but the Stimulus contribution means federal officials can take some credit for
fixing the Bridge. Also, the contribution of Stimulus cash freed up local
transportation money to fix up six more bridges that need work but hadn't been
scheduled for repair.
All that mixing of funds makes it difficult to count exactly
how many jobs are being created by the $30 million in Stimulus funds for the Brooklyn Bridge.
However, if that $30 million in Stimulus funds were somehow
taken away, the uncertainty would hit thousands of workers. Everyone involved
in all seven projects, from bridge painters to contractors to material
suppliers, would have to wonder if their work would be delayed or cancelled as
politicians fought to fill the budget gap.
That's just one $30 million piece of the $787 billion
Stimulus -- 0.001 percent of the total. How many jobs would be threatened if
unspent Stimulus dollars were cancelled? A lot.