More Jobs = Less Deficit
June 11, 2010
Last week’s jobs report showed that our economic recovery is extremely fragile. The last thing we need is thousands more layoffs because of state budget shortfalls. The Senate jobs bill includes funding for state governments to avoid layoffs and public service cuts. As the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities reports, failing to extend fiscal relief to states will create new budget gaps, forcing cuts and job loss in at least 34 states.
Impact of Federal Aid on Public Sector Jobs
| State | Federal Aid | Jobs Saved or Created |
| Alabama | $254,798,646 | 4,687 |
| Alaska | 79,642,932 | 1,186 |
| Arizona | 610,068,079 | 9,887 |
| Arkansas | 216,315,581 | 4,272 |
| California | 3,245,869,586 | 43,438 |
| Colorado | 278,927,962 | 4,147 |
| Connecticut | 367,755,282 | 4,481 |
| Delaware | 86,595,890 | 1,291 |
| D.C. | 105,570,467 | 988 |
| Florida | 1,351,689,547 | 22,644 |
| Georgia | 509,897,962 | 8,210 |
| Hawaii | 131,363,095 | 2,187 |
| Idaho | 94,949,372 | 1,926 |
| Illinois | 1,002,045,046 | 14,239 |
| Indiana | 433,543,608 | 7,801 |
| Iowa | 208,880,505 | 4,039 |
| Kansas | 161,956,142 | 2,911 |
| Kentucky | 316,419,767 | 5,960 |
| Louisiana | 616,755,266 | 10,541 |
| Maine | 183,327,622 | 3,441 |
| Maryland | 554,267,974 | 7,641 |
| Massachusetts | 877,360,777 | 11,012 |
| Michigan | 639,592,161 | 10,251 |
| Minnesota | 591,409,345 | 9,189 |
| Mississippi | 277,527,994 | 5,698 |
| Missouri | 530,843,292 | 9,052 |
| Montana | 66,486,155 | 1,398 |
| Nebraska | 115,354,055 | 2,142 |
| Nevada | 121,389,820 | 1,923 |
| New Hampshire | 90,910,052 | 1,438 |
| New Jersey | 734,317,166 | 9,427 |
| New Mexico | 245,485,554 | 4,465 |
| New York | 3,667,565,560 | 43,218 |
| North Carolina | 645,938,944 | 11,139 |
| North Dakota | 42,220,755 | 848 |
| Ohio | 934,344,089 | 15,894 |
| Oklahoma | 307,814,869 | 5,695 |
| Oregon | 260,507,272 | 4,461 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,204,957,422 | 19,395 |
| Rhode Island | 131,561,988 | 2,116 |
| South Carolina | 302,844,480 | 5,699 |
| South Dakota | 43,593,987 | 934 |
| Tennessee | 462,941,773 | 8,210 |
| Texas | 1,578,348,554 | 24,273 |
| Utah | 111,303,072 | 2,016 |
| Vermont | 85,427,451 | 1,592 |
| Virginia | 479,389,618 | 6,945 |
| Washington | 641,018,575 | 9,506 |
| West Virginia | 156,348,236 | 3,088 |
| Wisconsin | 434,572,544 | 7,697 |
| Wyoming | 41,767,265 | 698 |
| Puerto Rico | 58,226,854 | - |
| American Samoa | 1,721,467 | - |
| Guam | 2,615,524 | - |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 945,417 | - |
| Virgin Islands | 2,707,581 | - |
| TOTAL | $26,700,000,000 | 405,335 |
FMAP estimates from FFIS adjusted for $23.5B CBO spending level – based on state spending.
Jobs estimate based on the FMAP dollar amounts and average compensation in each state.
As this chart shows, without the Senate jobs bill we could see hundreds of thousands more job losses nationwide. That would have a hugely negative impact on the federal deficit, given the lost tax revenue and the increased reliance on government services.
Saving jobs and services will keep our economic recovery going. And it will reduce the national debt in the long term. Slashing budgets right now is the wrong thing to do. The right thing to do is for the Senate to pass the jobs bill.
