Two bills before Congress could pay for public works projects and create new jobs in Maryland.
“We can ward off a possible recession with jobs … and these projects would add value to the community,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., to a packed room of contractors during a conference at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation in Baltimore.
A transportation and housing spending bill would help fund road projects that could be implemented within 90 days, Mikulski said.
The $150 billion economic stimulus bill proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would bring jobs to Maryland by funding public works projects such as expanding the Howard Street tunnel and upgrading Baltimore City’s wastewater system, which must be completed, under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate.
But many of the contractors at the forum were concerned that the contracts for those jobs would go to out-of-state companies.
“It’s not impossible [for the plan to work], but it’s going to be difficult,” said Charles Holub of Potts and Callahan, Inc., a Baltimore-based earth-moving contracting company.
