On September 12, 2011, President Barack Obama sent the American Jobs Act to Congress with a request that Congress take up deliberation in an expeditious manner. In designing a comprehensive and funded strategy to help get Americans back to work and stimulate business development, the AJA utilizes three key approaches:
Cut taxes as a means to support small business development and help working families.
Rebuild and modernize America's infrastructure for the purpose of putting people back to work and making the U.S. more globally competitive in the post-recession economy.
Provide pathways to employment for the long-term unemployed.
Funding for the AJA is proposed to come from reductions in the federal budget, as developed by the bipartisan Joint Congressional Committee. On September 19, 2011, the President released his own recommendations to the Joint Committee of Congress. The Joint Committee of Congress has been directed by its leaders to make its recommendations in November 2011.
Below are a few key resources for review and analyzing the AJA. Additional information is available through www.whitehouse.gov.
The White House Office of Public Engagement has several dedicated webpages on the AJA that can assist you in keeping informed on the progress of the Act including additional fact sheets and opportunities for communicating directly with the White House. These pages can be found at this web address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/jobsact#overview.
