Parker Proposes Jobs Creation Package

(Brooklyn, NY) Today Senator Parker joined his Senate colleagues in another charge to assist Main Street New Yorkers by releasing the Workforce Reinvestment Plan which includes 11 pieces of legislation sponsored by Senators Parker, Kennedy, Perkins, Espaillat, Montgomery, Stewart-Cousins, and Maziarz.  The plan covers a broad range of employment issues including training programs, workforce credits, alternative investment and reinvestment funds, educational opportunities, green jobs initiatives, nondiscrimination legislation and tax credits.  Senator Parker sponsored three of the eleven pieces of legislation proposed.

This year New Yorker’s dealt with one of the largest budget deficits, one of the roughest economies, massive lay-offs and a reduction in job creation.  According to the New York Times, New York State’s unemployment rate was 8.2 percent and private-sector employment statewide declined by 22,600 jobs, after adjustments for usual seasonal fluctuations.

In order to deal with this jobs crisis Senator Parker, along with several of his democratic colleagues created a comprehensive package from soup to nuts - addressing job creation, skilled workforce development, job maintenance, and unemployment.  “One of my most important responsibilities as a Senator is to address the needs of the people of New York.  We would be remiss if we ended session without addressing job creation in our state,” said Parker.

This workforce reinvestment plan is projected to create approximately 10,000 new jobs throughout the state.  There was $214 million in savings identified from the May 2011 Personal Income Tax revenue.  This Plan proposes that $101 million of the budgetary savings be used for the workforce reinvestment plan.

The Workforce Reinvestment Plan includes:

1. Parker/S.3433 – Establishes the high performance computing program to fund projects connecting researchers and businesses with NYS high performance computing resources.

2. Parker/S.2792 - Permits the state and private entities to issue Alternative Finance Investment Bonds creating the potential for job growth and development.

3. Parker/S.5468 – Codifies state university of New York educational opportunity centers which provide an integrated system of education, vocational training and student support services targeted to higher education access and the development of a quality workforce which supports the economic development of New York's distressed communities.

4. Kennedy/S.5351 - Establishes a five percent investment tax credit against the franchise tax imposed upon corporations for a portion of training or retraining expenses incurred by them.

5. Perkins/S.1768 – Creates the niche market assistance projects for small businesses to identify and develop niche markets for their products in competitive environments.

6. Espaillat/S.1864 – Creates the seed-NY investment fund; authorizes the transfer of all assets and liabilities of the small business technology investment fund for the Seed-NY investment fund.

7. Kennedy/S.5355 – Establishes the green jobs workforce subcommittee of the state workforce investment board to conduct labor market data analysis, to provide job training and education programs, and to provide a local green jobs corps.

8. Montgomery/S.104 – Establishes the New York state justice reinvestment fund and program to provide not-for-profit and faith based entities with funding to improve communities with a higher than normal criminal offender and ex-offender population.

9. Stewart-Cousins S.2825 -  Creates the micro business outreach center assistance program within the department of economic development

10. Stewart-Cousins S.5316 – Prohibits hiring discrimination by employers, employment agencies and licensing agencies based upon an individual's unemployment status.

11. Maziarz/S.5407 – allow local economic development agencies through a regional collaborative decision making process to fully participate in the allocation of revenues derived from the sale of expansion and replacement power.

“We must work towards an Affordable New York. The Majority has gone almost an entire session without addressing the issues that New Yorkers truly care about – rent regulation, the rising costs of fuel, unemployment and job creation,” stated Parker.

About Senator Kevin Parker

Senator Kevin S. Parker is intimately familiar with the needs of his ethnically diverse community that consists of 311,000 constituents in Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington and Borough Park. He is the Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, former Majority Whip and First Vice Chair or the Association of Black, Puerto Rican Asian Legislators.