Economic Stimulus

The most important job our government has right now is putting people to work and jumpstarting this economy. We must take bold action now or we risk further weakening our ability to confront the severe economic contraction we are experiencing.

Mike Quigley will work closely with President Obama and members of congress on the current economic stimulus package to accomplish the following goals.

The Mike Quigley Economic Stimulus Agenda:

Put people back to work; short term and long-term: The approximately $159 billion dollars in infrastructure spending planned by the congress should not only be focused on building roads and bridges that can create jobs now, but also create the conditions for long-term job growth such as green collar jobs, information technology jobs and jobs in the health care sector. This can be through direct aid to state governments, institutions or from existing federal programs.

Mike Quigley strongly supports the House amendment to prevent Governor Blagojevich from having any control over these funds. Once removed from office, the executive authority to dispense funding should be restored.

Help people who are out of work: The stimulus package should include aid to people who are actively searching for work and their families. Unemployment benefits should be increased as well as food stamps and COBRA benefits should be extended. Also, he supports President Obama's plans to give every working family significant tax relief.

Prevent state governments from making the problem worse: State governments must be given significant aid to prevent service reductions and to support unemployment and Medicaid programs. The State of Illinois has suffered from the mess in Springfield and is currently 90 days behind on Medicaid payments. This one-time fix should allow us to get our fiscal house in order and protect vital services the people of Illinois rely on in this time of crisis.

Every crisis is an opportunity and as a member of Congress, Mike Quigley wants to see the following principles applied to the stimulus package:

Unparalleled accountability: The lack of transparency in the use of TARP fund has, rightly, troubled the American people about the ability of their government to spend money wisely. We must allow the people to see exactly what their money is being spent on, where it's being spent and to whom it has been given. The proposal for a centralized website monitoring the stimulus funds is a good one and should be easy to use.

Investing in new opportunities for long-term growth: By rebuilding our crumbling schools and investing in broadband infrastructure, we can take this opportunity to better prepare and better train our workers for the jobs of the 21st Century. We should create the green collar economy, which will have the added benefit of increasing our national security by lessening our dependence on foreign oil. Whenever possible, our stimulus funds should be targeted and should encourage this new growth.

Increasing government efficiency: Where possible, funds should be used to modernize and insulate public buildings so that energy use can be kept to a minimum, thereby promoting a cleaner environment and saving taxpayer money. Additionally, public transportation, especially in the Chicagoland area, is in need of massive investment to not only modernize the infrastructure, but to convert vehicles to lower cost alternative fuels that promote a clean environment and cost taxpayers less.