Published: November 05, 2009 03:18 am      

Creation of jobs should be focus

The Associated Press has reported that more than 2,400 jobs have been saved or created in West Virginia because of federal stimulus funding.

These figures come from those individuals who have been spending the money.

But is that really a figure that we are proud of? Let’s examine the figures.

They indicate that federal officials have reviewed hundreds of reports filed last month by stimulus beneficiaries. They include state and local government agencies as well as private sector contractors and nonprofit groups.

About two-thirds of the 2,400 jobs created or saved came from state agencies that spent $250 million. That’s about 1,600 jobs. About 20 percent were in education, according to numbers provided from the Manchin administration.

The next-largest share resulted from spending on Workforce Investment Act programs, which offer training and other employment services. Another 16 percent came from road and bridge projects fueled by stimulus dollars, the administration figures said.

“I think we’ve gotten a really good return on our dollars so far,” said Jim Pitrolo, Gov. Joe Manchin’s legislative director. “The best value so far has been the increased funding for Medicaid and the highway spending.” The state’s unemployment rate remains below the national average, and Pitrolo noted that West Virginia has relied on fewer stimulus dollars than most other states so far to keep its budgets balanced.

“I don’t think that comparison is fair to West Virginia because West Virginia was lucky enough not to need much money up front,” he said.

West Virginia ranks 41st in creating jobs with stimulus funds ... not a very good ranking. But on the other hand, you must consider that West Virginia was not hit as hard as many other states and it still maintains one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. That’s fewer jobs to create or replace.

Now let’s look at the other side of the picture.

There are areas where we can see that the money spent, plus the jobs that were created, doesn’t seem to equal good value. For example, each of the 321 education jobs attributed to the stimulus “cost” around $10,000.

But as far as highways and roads projects jobs created, $36 million was spent and 251 jobs were created. That totals to about $143,194 apiece. Keep in mind that these are temporary, seasonal jobs that end once the road project is complete. Won’t we be in the same situation within a few months’ time? Could we not have turned that funding for one seasonal employee into three permanent jobs? Permanent jobs mean consumer spending, building the tax base and pulling people out of the unemployment lines.

While roads projects are always needed to replace aging infrastructure in the state, could the stimulus money have been spent in a better way? Could boosting unemployment compensation or extending it even longer have been more effective?

Or perhaps subsidizing employment in vital industries, like the manufacturing, steel and aluminum plants in West Virginia. What if some of those funds could have been used for programs that would pay partial salaries of employees as an incentive to hire or maintain the current workforce?

This round of stimulus funds to the states has not been a jobs plan at all. But in all fairness, the states have to play by the rules of the feds.

Perhaps the next round of Obama stimulus funding will focus on true jobs creation. That’s what this economy needs — jobs, jobs and more jobs.