REID DEMANDS STIMULUS PROJECTS HAVE BIG, QUICK JOBS BANG

摘要

Proposals for the economic stimulus package should deal only with programs that create jobs and spend quickly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has told Congress. Reid hopes to get a package ready by Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, and is encouraging committees to gather ideas from their areas of jurisdiction for inclusion in the Senate version of the bill, according to a recent memo. It listed energy, infrastructure, health care, education and protecting the 搈ost vulnerable?as top priorities for the package. Telecom groups have filed many proposals with the transition team. Many recommend grants and tax incentives for infrastructure buildout that the groups say would create jobs. Free Press has proposed a $44 billion broadband wish list in one of the most ambitious plans presented to the transition team. It includes incentives for infrastructure buildout and sets a goal of building an all-fiber, 100 Mbps nationwide network. nnThe Communications Workers of America told Congress that every $5 billion invested in broadband infrastructure would create 100,000 jobs in technology business and 2.5 million jobs throughout the economy. The union cited a Commerce Department economic study. A CWA proposal has been endorsed by the Telecommunications Industry Association and Fiber-to-the-Home Council. The CTIA wants the incoming administration to promote wireless broadband investment. It filed papers with the transition team proposing that additional spectrum be allocated for mobile broadband services and that regulatory roadblocks to installation of towers and other wireless gear be removed. The broadband provisions probably will include grants of $20-$25 billion for investment in new networks in unserved areas, said Cisco Technology Director Jeff Campbell. This will create many new jobs in the technology sector and blue collar areas, he said. The grants should be tied to services of at least a minimum speed, perhaps 10 Mbps, he said. The benefit of such a program is that it's one-shot spending, he said.