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A new WPA proposed for Ohio

Two state representatives in Ohio have proposed a plan that would put as many as 5,000 Ohioans to work on infrastructure and beautification projects. This should sound familiar if you remember your high school U.S. history class; the plan is modeled on the Works Public Administration (WPA) of the 1930’s.

State Reps. Mike Foley (D-Cleveland) and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) unveiled the legislation that they say is modeled somewhat after the WPA that helped put Americans to work during the Great Depression.
If passed, the Ohio Works Progress Administration would pay 5,000 workers $27,500 annually.

Workers would work on infrastructure and beautification projects including public art, recycling and landfill maintenance, soil and water conservation projects and parks clean-up.

The program would allot 50 workers and two artists for each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

ProgressOhio details the kind of jobs that would be included in the OWPA, many of which echo those of the original WPA:

• Residential home construction, deconstruction, weatherizing homes and buildings, maintenance and repair, lead and asbestos removal
• Recycling, trash sorting and landfill maintenance
• Soil and water conservation projects
• Disaster clean-up
• Lake and waterway repair and conservation
• Trail maintenance and clean-up in parks

Even though the proposal is modest, it stands in stark contrast to efforts on the other side of the aisle Governor John Kasich has been touting his budget plan, calling it a “Jobs Budget.” However, a study by Innovation Ohio found that Kasich’s budget would lead to 51,000 jobs lost, due in part to a $3 billion cut in education and a 50 percent cut in local government.