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pittston

November 15

Group to rally for jobs bill

NEPA Needs Jobs says passing President’s plan would help repair bridges.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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PITTSTON – The NEPA Needs Jobs coalition used the structurally deficient Water Street Bridge Monday as one reason Congress needs to pass the American Jobs Act, which members say would create and save jobs and pay for bridge repairs nationwide.

The coalition, whose website links it to organizations such as MoveOn.org, the American Dream Movement and the Service Workers International Union, is planning a rally near the bridge in Pittston on Thursday to get that message across, and coordinator A.J. Marin asked the handful of attendees Monday to spread the word along with fliers about the rally.

Marin, of Wilkes-Barre, gave an approximately 30-minute presentation on the bridge, citing data from the state Department of Transportation showing that while an average of 8,655 vehicles cross it daily, the substructure of the bridge is structurally deficient and the deck and superstructure are borderline deficient.

Marin said the bridge, which is owned by Luzerne County, isn’t being repaired because neither the county nor the state nor the federal government has money budgeted, but it and thousands of other structurally deficient bridges across the state and nation should be.

“We saw what happened in Minnesota when for years bridges were left without being fixed and then finally there was the tragedy,” Marin said, referring to the 2007 collapse of the Interstate 35 Bridge over the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis that killed 13 people.

Marin said the Congressional Budget Office reports that the American Jobs Act would provide funding to create or save 44,600 jobs in Pennsylvania – 2,500 in the 11th Congressional District alone, with 985 of those being for fixing bridges and 792 to rehire laid-off teachers and emergency responders.

Marin said U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville, and U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, oppose the American Jobs Act, which was put forth by President Barack Obama. Toomey and Barletta both have referred to the act as another “stimulus bill” that won’t create any more jobs than the last stimulus bill.

Marin said a major purpose of the rally scheduled for Thursday is to let their elected officials know they support the American Jobs Act.

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