Lipinksi Urges Highway Spending to Create Jobs

With the White House preparing for a Dec. 3 job summit, a Democrat from President Obama’s home state called for quick passage of the $500 billion, six-year surface transportation bill stuck in the House of Representatives to create jobs.

“Boosting transportation funding right now offers both the short-term benefit of quickly creating jobs and the long-term benefit of enhancing the fast, safe and efficient transportation of people and goods,” Rep. Dan Lipinksi said in a Nov. 30 letter to Obama.

The Democrat, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, added his voice to the growing chorus on Capitol Hill urging more infastructure spending to stimulate the economy. He urged the administration to drop its call for an 18-month extension of the 2005 surface transportation reauthorization in favor of the House bill.

“As President Obama solicits ideas for creating jobs this week, this is one he should not ignore,” Lipinksi said.

Unemployment in Illinois hit 10.6 percent in October, when the national average — now over 10 percent — was still 9.5 percent.

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.