WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic leaders brought an aviation bill that authorizes $8 billion for airport construction to the Senate floor on Monday, pitching it as a jobs measure in keeping with President Barack Obama’s call to boost the economy through transportation projects.
The American Association of Airport Executives estimated the airport construction funds will support 90,000 current or new jobs and have a beneficial spinoff effect on the employment of another 190,000 workers. The estimate is based on a calculation that $1 billion in federal spending supports 35,000 jobs. It presumes a 20 percent match by local airport authorities in addition to the federal dollars.
The bill presents Democrats with a means to show quick results in answer to Obama’s call in his State of the Union speech to put Americans to work modernizing roads, bridges, trains and other transportation infrastructure.
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