Mayor Newsom Continues Support of Jobs NOW! Program
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) _ San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced a plan on Wednesday to prevent workers in the Jobs NOW! program from being laid off when it expires at the end of the month.
Over 4,100 jobs are at stake in San Francisco if Congress fails to re-up the stimulus program for another year. And with the September 30 deadline fast approaching, the prognosis is not promising.
But Mayor Newsom said he'll spend $9 million of local job training money to pay $2,500 incentives to employers who stick with the program and retain workers, even after Jobs NOW! expires.
KCBS Barbara Taylor Reporting:
"There's not one stimulus program that creates more direct jobs for private sector employers than this," said Newsom. "And for a lot of folks, it's less money than they receive on unemployment."
Longtime small business advocate Scott Hauge said he believes a city subsidy would prevent many of the layoffs.
"When you get somebody good, you don't want to let them go," he said. "But every dollar counts and this will help my business."
The federal stimulus program has been criticized by Republicans in Congress for doing little to jump start the economy, while putting the nation even deeper in debt.
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