(At Least) 5 Local Economic Stories to

Jump On Now

Marilyn Geewax NPR Senior Business Editor

As 2013 begins…

Day Two

What We Will Explore Today

•  What Does President Obama Want? •  What Does the GOP-led House Want? •  What Do Business Groups Want? •  What Does Labor Want? •  How Can You Find Local Angles?

Let’s Start With Obama

What Does Obama Want?

•  More Jobs •  Deficit Reduction •  Corporate-Tax Reform •  Immigration Reform •  More Green Energy •  Transportation-Infrastructure Upgrades

http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy

Job Losses – The Key Problem

Unemployment Shot Up

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

What Obama Would Do On Jobs

•  Eliminate tax incentives for offshoring •  Cut taxes for businesses that hire workers •  Increase job training •  Boost spending on infrastructure •  Provide tax incentives for clean energy

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blueprint

Offshoring: Find the Local Angle

•  Offshoring Prevention Act would end tax break that rewards companies for moving factories overseas.

•  Is there a business in your area that is offshoring?

•  What’s the impact? More jobs or fewer?

•  Example: http://tinyurl.com/aexkkr2

Lower Taxes To Spur Hiring

•  Talk to local employers to find out whether tax incentives would spur hiring.

•  Follow up when you hear about hiring.

•  DesMoinesRegister.com looks at what’s on the state Econ Dev board agenda and finds some companies may hire.

•  http://tinyurl.com/bwcd3ry

Increase Job Training

•  Community colleges are a vital source of job training.

•  Hang out at a community college and learn what job skills are “hot” in your area. Who is getting hired?

•  What is the relationship between industry and the local college?

•  http://tinyurl.com/c9rd7z7

What local stories have you developed on jobs?

If so, what data did you use?

If not, what obstacles kept you from pursuing them?

NEEDS PICTURE

HERE Photo by Flickr user MTAPhotos

Increase Infrastructure Spending

•  The 2009 stimulus package created a lot of jobs. This would be a good time to follow up – what happened to projects in your area?

•  What is yet to come for infrastructure?

•  http://tinyurl.com/bpkd9z3

Boost Support for Clean Energy

•  Don’t think just about factory jobs – a lot of the hiring involves installation of solar panels, wind turbines, etc.

•  And look at how “green” jobs are being financed.

http://www.labor4sustainability.org/post/california-steamin’/

What Do House Republicans Want?

•  Lower Corporate Taxes •  Cut Federal Spending •  Expand Energy Extraction and Refining •  Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to

eliminate government guarantees of the mortgage bonds they issue

http://www.speaker.gov/initiatives

GOP Has Had Few Wins Lately

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Lower Corporate Taxes

•  This might actually happen because lots of people say rates should be lower and loopholes fewer.

•  But “loopholes” may be very important to your local businesses, such as the R&D tax credit or rebates for expansion.

•  http://tinyurl.com/cxb944r

Cut Federal Spending

•  Be fair when looking at govt. spending. It’s easy to do a story about jobs lost when spending is cut, but harder to find businesses that grow when government gets out of the way. Look for both sides.

•  For example, military bases are being turned into private developments.

•  http://tinyurl.com/cjpyhaf

What Does Business Want?

•  Corporate-Tax Reform •  More Spending for Roads, Bridges, Ports

and Airports •  Immigration Reform •  Better Schools and Universities •  Tort Reform

http://tinyurl.com/b9ka87z

3.6 Million Job Openings

More Immigrants to Fill Jobs

•  Again, be sure to cover both sides. Sometimes immigrants do fill jobs that U.S. citizens might want, but sometimes they fill slots that otherwise would remain empty. It’s complicated.

•  http://tinyurl.com/bowsfd8

Have you covered immigration and its economic impact on your community?

If so, what did you find?

If not, what other local labor stories have you covered? Protest in Minnesota against

Arizona’s restrictive immigration law, S.B. 1070.

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What Does Labor Want?

•  More Spending for Transportation, Schools and Energy Infrastructure

•  Trade-Policy Reforms •  More Federal Aid to State and Local

Governments to Prevent Layoffs •  Wall Street Reforms •  Minimum-Wage Hike

http://www.aflcio.org/Issues

12 Million Unemployed Now

Nearly 5 million are long-term unemployed

Trade-Policy Reform

•  Unions want to protect U.S. jobs from low-wage, foreign competition.

•  Again, look for local angles from both sides – the company expanding thanks to foreign customers, and those shrinking because of intense competition.

•  http://tinyurl.com/cncc6v3

Global Trade Will Be a Top Issue