Nation’s Mayors Support Gay Marriage But Complain About Unemployment

DC, Washington, United States (AHN) – The U.S. Conference of Mayors wrapped up its winter meeting Friday in Washington, D.C., with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stepping into controversies on same sex marriage and education.

Emanuel joined about 80 other mayors from across the nation in endorsing laws to give legal recognition to same sex marriage, along with the tax breaks and other benefits spouses can share.

The mayors signed on to a statement that said, “Our cities derive great strength from their diversity and gay and lesbian families are a crucial part. Studies have shown what we know through our hands-on experience that cities that celebrate and cultivate diversity are the places where creativity and ideas thrive.”

Emanuel supported the Illinois Legislature’s effort last year to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.

He said New York did “a good thing” last June when state lawmakers legalized gay marriage.

In separate comments Friday, Emanuel discussed his plan to turn Chicago’s community colleges into training institutions for the city’s employers.

Currently, Chicago’s City Colleges have a graduation rate of about 7 percent and job prospects for graduates that are “not as high,” Emanuel said.

His plan calls for each of the city’s seven community colleges to operate with specialties, such as health care, transportation, hospitality and manufacturing.

In addition, employers would be brought in to develop curricula that would train the students to become their employees.

“I want it to have economic value” to attend college, Emanuel said at the downtown Washington hotel where about 250 mayors were meeting.

Turning colleges into job training institutions is controversial among some academics, who say a well-rounded education requires liberal arts courses that include literature, history and the arts.

Nevertheless, job creation and recovery from the economic disaster of the Great Recession were dominant themes throughout the meeting this week.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors released a report that said the nation’s metropolitan areas will struggle for five more years to regain jobs lost during the recession that started in September 2008.

“The recovery is very uneven across U.S. regions, with the southeastern and southwestern metro [areas that] were the most affected by the housing bubble looking ahead to years of recovery,” the report says.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls will grow about 1.3 percent this year, which is unlikely to reduce the unemployment rate below 8 percent, according to a report by IHS Global Insight.

The report predicts the nation will regain nearly half the jobs lost during the Great Recession by the end of 2012.

The mayors used the economic report to try to prod Congress to approve legislation that would create more jobs.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, president of the Conference of Mayors, said “Congress has jumped ship” in its obligation to stimulate the economy and employment.

However, Villaraigosa acknowledged cities will have a hard time squeezing money out of Congress at a time the federal government is trying to reduce its deficit by cutting spending.

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California farmers complain to Congress about environmental regulations

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – A congressional committee heard impassioned testimony Tuesday from farmers in California who are trying to hang on to their livelihoods while dealing with Environmental Protection Agency rules they describe as an economic burden.

The hearing was part of an “effort to identify and resolve regulatory impediments to job creation,” a committee staff member told All Headline News.

The Republican chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Darrell Issa of California, called some federal regulations “problematic” as the nation struggles with high unemployment.

“We know that the private sector is going to have to lead this nation’s economic recovery effort and it’s important for us to hear what is holding back efforts to create new jobs,” Issa said.

The nation’s unemployment rate stands at 8.8 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The hearing Tuesday is one of series of hearings the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is conducting with leaders of several industries on the impact of federal regulations.

The hearing in Salinas came during a rough week for the EPA.

On Monday, 170 members of Congress accused the agency of acting without congressional authority in expanding Clean Water Act regulations.

“In difficult economic times throughout our country, it is critical that we do not unilaterally make decisions that will disenfranchise farmers and American workers while we are making efforts necessary to protect clean water,” Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) said in a letter to the EPA signed by the congressmen.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard a case in which attorneys for six states argued a federal court should have authority to order utilities to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, rather than leaving the regulation to the EPA.

During the hearing in Salinas, Calif., representatives of agricultural groups described farmers as becoming desperate during the economic recession of the past three years.

“American farmers are at crossroads,” said Tom Nassif, president of the Western Growers Association, in his testimony. “With a regulatory environment that is stifling job creation and economic opportunity, the majority of us must rely on off-farm income to support our families, an increasing number of us are moving our production off-shore, and some of us are simply shutting down our operations.”

Often, farmers and other industries have rules imposed on them “without the benefit of the best available science and experience, without public review of data and modeling and without serious stakeholder engagement,” Nassif said. “The resulting regulatory requirements are often inflexible and impractical.”

The hearing in Salinas follows a recent Oversight and Government Reform Committee report that found federal regulations fall harder on small businesses than large corporations.

The report said “small firms bear a regulatory cost of $10,585 per employee whereas large firms with more than 500 employees incur a cost of $7,755 per employee to comply with federal regulations.”

Even large industries are struggling under tough EPA regulations, the report said.

Utilities face 35 deadlines on emissions control between 2009 and 2017. Two utilities were forced to shut down after being unable to meet EPA regulatory standards.

Financial industry regulations are expected to reduce the industry’s economic growth by 4 percent, the report said.

“Uncertainty of future regulation chills capital formation and can leave U.S. businesses with less investment capital if the money is diverted to foreign markets,” the report said.

James Bogart, president of the Grower-Shippers Association of Central California, said the EPA often seeks to protect the environment without fully considering the economic consequences.

“It is vitally important from a public policy perspective to have EPA thoroughly explain the costs, as well as any potential benefits, of their proposed regulatory actions, before they take them,” Bogart said.

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