SEIU Releases Report Showing How Recovery Act Investments in Human Services Created and Saved Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs

Washington- Marking the first anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released a statement from Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger praising the bill for creating and saving hundreds of thousands of jobs, and calling on Congress to continue needed state fiscal relief.

When our economy dove into a crisis of epic proportions last year, Congress moved quickly to stop the hemorrhaging--and to solve the problems that got us here in the first place," said Burger.

"The hundreds of thousands of Americans who are now employed as a direct result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can thank Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid for their leadership and courage. Pelosi and Reid championed the legislation that stopped the bleeding in a devastating recession, provided critical fiscal relief to our states, and put people back to work. Without their quick action, our economy could've been in crisis for years or even decades to come," continued Burger.

Taking into account all ARRA spending through 2009, the Recovery Act has created or saved nearly 2.1 million jobs through the fourth quarter of 2009. To commemorate the anniversary of the legislation, SEIU released a report touting its success. The report, which can be viewed at http://seiu.me/arra, notes that the Recovery Act helped counter the recession by protecting human services and the workers employed to deliver those services at a local level.

For people like Akbar Chatman, a substance abuse counselor for the Department of Mental Health in Los Angeles County, the Recovery Act played a critical role in helping him do his job. LA County deals with the substance abuse troubles of a significant homeless population. With the $111 million in Recovery Act funding that the county received, counselors like Chatman were able to provide better care for his patients. "Thank you to President Obama and everyone who voted for this," Chatman said. [Watch Chatman discuss the Recovery Act at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7b05HYSD0.]

"Unfortunately, while Democratic leadership did the hard work to stop the bleeding of our economic crisis, Republican leadership repeatedly chose to put partisanship ahead of the needs of the country - both last year, in voting against the Recovery Act, and again this year as we attempt to pass a more broad jobs agenda," continued Burger.

"State fiscal relief from the Recovery Act played a critical role in saving jobs and preserving critical human services--like those Akbar Chatman provides-- to get our economy back on track, but too many Americans are still hurting. The House passed a broad jobs bill with increased funding for state fiscal relief; as the Senate takes up their own jobs agenda, they would do well to follow the House's lead," concluded Burger.

The state fiscal relief provisions in the Recovery Act helped limit cuts in human services proposed to respond to deep budget gaps in FY2010. Without additional fiscal relief, new budget gaps could force state governments to shed 900,000 jobs this year.

Read more about how the Recovery Act helped save and create jobs at www.seiu.org/economicrecovery.

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