A federal jobs bill now in the works could provide as much as $24 million to San Diego Unified School District, but the district isn’t counting on those funds to get out of its budget crunch.
The Jobs for Main Street Act proposes pouring $23 billion into education jobs nationwide as part of a $154 billion package. If the money is divvied up the same way as an earlier dose of stimulus dollars, it would bring $24 million to the school district, spokesman Bernie Rhinerson said. That would be welcome news as San Diego Unified tries to plug a budget gap that could range from $97 million to $222 million.
But the bill has a long way to go before it becomes a reality, and it could change. The House has passed the bill and it’s now headed to the Senate. CNN Money sums up some of the factors that could delay or alter the plan there:
The Senate is expected to make some pretty drastic changes to the final bill, especially when it comes to its cost. In addition to finishing up the costly health care bill, the Senate has another fiscal pressure to deal with: raising the federal debt limit.
Also, the Senate may rewrite the bill to include some jobs creation measures that Obama called for in December, such as tax breaks for small businesses that create new jobs.
Congressional aides say the Senate will start working on the jobs bill after it finishes with health care. Democrats want to get work on health care completed by the president’s State of the Union message, within the next month.
For more info, you can check out this press release from advocates for the bill or read the actual text here.
— EMILY ALPERT