American Jobs Act

By Bethany Pusiful, CPA

When President Obama spoke on September 9, he outlined a plan that he hopes will help put Americans back to work. Following is a brief outline of his plan.

- Tax cuts to help America’s small business hire and grow
o Cutting the payroll tax in half to 3.1% for 98% of businesses
o A payroll tax holiday for added workers or increased wages
o Reforms and regulatory reductions to help entrepreneurs
and small businesses access capital
o Extending the 100% immediate deduction on investments in new
plant and equipment

- Putting workers back on the job while rebuilding and modernizing
America
o Tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans ranging from
$5,600 to $9,600
o Preventing layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers while keeping
cops and firefighters on the job
o Modernizing at least 35,000 public schools across the country
o Modernizing our roads, rails, airports, and waterways while
putting hundreds of thousands of workers back on the job
o Putting people to work rehabilitating homes, businesses, and
communities, leveraging private capital and scaling land
banks and other public-private collaborations
o Expanding access to high-speed wireless

- Pathways back to work for Americans looking for jobs
o Reforming the unemployment insurance program including
extending unemployment insurance, preventing 6 million
people from losing their benefits
o A $4,000 tax credit for hiring long-term unemployed workers
o Expanding job opportunities for low-income youth and adults

- Tax relief for every American worker and family
o Expanding the payroll tax cuts passed last year to cut
workers’ payroll taxes in half in 2012, providing $1,500 in
tax cuts to the typical American family, without negatively
impacting Social Security
o Allowing more Americans to refinance their mortgages at
today’s historically low interest rates