Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Jobsnow Extension topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mayor and Human Services officials urge Congress to extend JobsNow subsidy program
Summary
Mayor Newsome, the Human Services Agency and local business leaders urged Congress to extend the federal JobsNow wage‑subsidy program, saying roughly 3,820 San Francisco families are employed through the program and that a $2.5 billion federal extension would preserve jobs nationwide.
City officials and business leaders used a Sept. 8 event to press the U.S. Senate to extend the JobsNow federal wage‑subsidy program for another year. Trent Roe, director of the Human Services Agency, said the city had enrolled roughly 3,820 people in San Francisco through the program and that federal extension would preserve those jobs locally. The city team and Mayor Newsome framed the program as a private‑sector‑oriented stimulus: it subsidizes wages paid by employers and, according to the presentation, projects tens of millions in reimbursed wages.
Mayor Newsome and other speakers emphasized the program's local impact and national scale. Speakers cited these figures in the briefing: 3,820 San Francisco participants, roughly 250,000 people hired nationally through the federal money, and a requested federal extension of about $2.5 billion to continue the program for another year. City officials said roughly $55,000,000 in program wages had been projected to be reimbursed through September of the year described in the briefing.
Employers and program participants gave testimonials. Robert Miller (Internet Archive) said his organization hired 145 people through JobsNow and described work that included building a free digital library. Ginger Bisharat, a single mother and program participant, described how the job improved her family's situation. Small‑business leaders including Scott Haughey and Tom Yeh described how the subsidy allowed them to hire and retain staff in uncertain economic conditions.
Officials described a coordinated advocacy campaign targeting key states and senators undecided in the Senate to pick up the one or two votes needed for passage; they said the House had already passed the extension twice and urged a Senate vote. City staff said they were conducting employer surveys to estimate how many JobsNow positions could be retained by employers if the subsidy expired, and they planned transitional assistance (unemployment insurance navigation, resume assistance) for affected workers if the program lapsed.
Ending Speakers closed by asking residents, businesses and mayors across the country to support a one‑year federal extension. The city framed the program as a successful local implementation of stimulus funds that helped employers and employees, and requested prompt Senate action to avoid job losses in the weeks after the program's scheduled expiration.
