House passes another big job-creation bill

Everybody agrees that the best way out of this persistent recession is to put people back to work. Today, the House passed a bill that can move at least 10,000 construction workers off unemployment and back onto the job.

The Washington Works Housing Act of 2010 creates jobs, builds affordable homes for working families, and helps save gas and cut emissions by locating housing close to mass transit. Sponsored by Rep. Tina Orwall of Des Moines, HB 2753 was approved 75-22. It will help non-profits and public agencies to purchase, build, and own real property used for affordable housing.

"It's a myth that only the lowest paid workers and the homeless are struggling to find a decent place to live," said Orwall. "When the average price of a house in Seattle is $350,000 and salaries start at $35,000 per year, how can these families possibly afford a home near their workplace? Teachers, police officers, nurses -- they are really struggling."

Also struggling is the construction industry, one of the hardest-hit segments of the economy. The Washington Works Housing Act and the JOBS Act that the House approved a couple weeks ago, are conservatively estimated to create around 50,000 construction jobs, many of them almost immediately after final approval. And each of those jobs can have a positive impact on individual communities -- after all, most of those wages aren't usually stuck in a savings account. They are spent at the local grocery store, the dentist's office, the car dealership.