Dunshee's JOBS Act = 38,000 jobs

At a hearing today, the Jobs Act got support from former Republican Secretary of State Ralph Munro, the state Labor Council, the state teachers union, community colleges, private businesses, public universities, the superintendent of public schools and others.

Rep. Hans Dunshee said he intends the bill to be in the spirit of the jobs created by President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression and Republican Gov. Dan Evans during the recession in the early 1970s, when Evans passed a similar package of bond bills to create construction jobs.

Dunshee said 38,000 jobs would be created by the bill, which is funded partly by bonds and partly by the energy savings created by the projects to make public schools, public universities and other public buildings more energy efficient.

Munro worked as an aide to Evans back then, and he testified in the Capital Budget Committee that he searched the state archives before testifying. “I saw piles and piles of letters from people who were out of work and got a job through these programs, and how happy they were to be back at work. … We were a Republican administration that had the strong support of labor and business on our proposal, and I hope you have the same, because the benefits and jobs are really great.”

Lucinda Young of the Washington Education Association said, “This will put people back to work … and help our K-12 system and our higher education system.”