Ohio House Democrats Propose Revival of Depression-Era Program to Create Jobs

"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A pair of Cleveland-area lawmakers want to revive a Depression-era jobs program in Ohio to create about 5,000 jobs.

The program, called the Ohio Works Progress Administration and modeled after a federal agency President Franklin D. Roosevelt established during the Great Depression, would create an average of 50 jobs in each of the state's 88 counties. Each job would pay $27,500 a year to perform a variety of public services.

The program would run for two years and cost about $400 million in salaries and benefits. An expected state budget surplus this summer of about $1 billion would cover the costs, said Rep. Nickie Antonio, a Democrat from Lakewood who is behind the program.

"This is a kick-start to really get people at the ground level employed and working and doing the maintenance things in our communities," Antonio said.


Antonio, along with Rep. Mike Foley, a Cleveland Democrat, introduced a bill on Monday to create the program.

Antonio acknowledged the plan is not expected to gain the support of Republicans, who hold a 59-40 majority in the House of Representatives.

Employees would provide a variety of public services, including demolition and rehabilitation of vacant homes, recycling and landfill maintenance, disaster cleanup and conservation of lakes and waterways."

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/06/ohio_house_democrats_propose_r.html

Can anyone say a dime short & a dollar late?? The OH Dems should have done that back when they had a majority in the OH legislature.