Rep. John Larson today will introduce his proposal for a “super committee on jobs,” to work in tandem or in parallel with the super committee on debt.
Larson’s move comes as lawmakers prepare to return to Washington next week, and as the national debate pivots from debt to job creation.
The 1st District Democrat’s proposal would force lawmakers to come up with a plan that attacks the nation’s 9.1 percent unemployment rate. Larson told the Mirror in early August that the panel could consider Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s proposal to create an infrastructure bank or a “good-old fashioned WPA” type initiative, referring to the massive Depression-era public works, anti-poverty program.
Larson plans to introduce three separate legislative proposals today, all of which would force congressional action on jobs either through the existing super committee or a secondary panel.
One proposal, for example, would require the 12-member special committee on debt reduction, created by the agreement to raise the nation’s debt cap, to also come up with job-creation recommendations. A second version would create a second committee to work alongside the debt panel.
Larson said that he already has about 60 co-sponsors in the House–all Democrats though. In the Senate, Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will introduce a companion bill.
The idea has gotten at least one positive review, from a Washington Post columnist who said it “corrects a mistake” in the debt ceiling debate by turning attention toward revving the economy instead of slicing spending.
But whether it will get any political traction in the Republican-controlled House is far from clear.