The recently passed transportation bill will do far more than repair our roadways or cause price increases at the gas pump.
According to our local state senator Dan Skogen (D-Hewitt), the transportation bill will generate 33,000 jobs a year across Minnesota.
Most viewed the Roads and Bridges Improvement Act as a tool to repair our highways for your car's engines -- not a powerful economic engine.
But the bill will spark enormous job growth in Minnesota's ailing economy.
Skogen said Wednesday that the transportation bill will generate both short and long-term job growth in Minnesota. A study by the Federal
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Highway Administration on transportation investments indicates that this bill will bring 33,000 new jobs per year to the state for the next five years, he said.
Much of this employment would occur in the construction industry, which has seen some of the highest job losses during Minnesota's economic slump.
A report released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development revealed that Minnesota's construction sector has lost almost 6,000 jobs in past 12 months.
The transportation bill isn't supported by all, who fear that the investment in our highway infrastructure comes at a poor time and will do more harm than good as our economy heads towards a predicted recession.
But a bill that puts 33,000 Minnesota workers back on the job can't be all bad. -- Fergus Falls Daily Journal
