Brad Shannon

Brad Shannon:
The Politics Blog

Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.

BLUMENTHAL: Stimulus claim is down to 79,000 jobs in Washington state

• Published February 04, 2009

The federal stimulus bill in Congress could create a lot of jobs in Washington state, but the number might be shrinking. Or not. Here's an assessment from Les Blumenthal in McClatchy Newspapers’ Washington, D.C., bureau.

WASHINGTON — So the White House says its version of the stimulus bill, or as Democrats now call it the recovery bill, will create or save 79,000 jobs in Washington state. In a state-by-state breakdown, the administration said 90 percent of those jobs will be in the private sector.

Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House version of the bill would create or save nearly 100,000 jobs and shave 2 percentage points off the state's current 7.2 percent unemployment rate.

The White House has been cranking up its press machine over the past several days, meeting with reporters from various regions of the nation.

In today's release, the White House also said 2.45 million Washingtonians will be eligible for up to a $1,000 tax cut; 404,000 unemployed in Washington state will get an extra $100 a month in their unemployment benefits and 67,000 families in the state will be eligible for a $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college.

Finally, the White House says its bill would provide sufficient funding to modernize at least 138 schools in Washington state.


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