What You Need To Know About President Obama’s Jobs Plan (The Pre-Debate Edition)

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Although the economy has played a big role in previous debates, it's set to be the only issue at tonight's event at Dartmouth College

Tonight eight Republican Presidential candidates will be debating public policy at Dartmouth College.  Specifically, they’ll be expected to focus on how they’d pump life back into our flagging economy.  And although primary debates are (obviously) single-party affairs, don’t be surprised if President Obama’s American Jobs Act figures prominently in tonight’s discussions.

Luckily for New Hampshire voters, reporter Larry Brown has broken down some of the key ways the AJA could affect the state in an article for Foster’s Daily Democrat:

Here are some of the highlights of Obama’s jobs plan:

• “[It w]ill provide $120 million in funds to New Hampshire to support up to 1,700 educator and first responder jobs.

• Proposes a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure that will modernize at least 35,000 public schools. New Hampshire will receive $70 million to support as many as 900 jobs.

• Proposes $5 billion in investments for facilities modernization needs at community colleges. New Hampshire could receive $8.7 million in funding in the next fiscal year for its community colleges…
• Tax cuts for small businesses that would see 30,000 firms in NH receive a payroll tax cut.
• Immediate investments in transportation infrastructure that make available $132,600,000 to the state’s highway and transit modernization projects, and could support a minimum of approximately 1,700 local jobs.
• The state could receive about $20,000,000 to revitalize and refurbish local communities, in addition to funds that would be available through a competitive application.
• Reforms to unemployment insurance system that could help put the 18,000 long-term unemployed workers in New Hampshire back to work.
• Extending unemployment insurance and preventing 1,700 people looking for work in the state from losing their benefits in just the first six weeks.
• A Pathway Back to Work Fund that could place 300 adults and 700 youths in jobs.
• Payroll tax cuts that would see a typical New Hampshire household, with a median income of around $64,000, receive a tax cut of around $1,980.”

Incidentally, if you’re in the mood for some lighter pre-debate fare, check out the Heckle-Risk Analysis for tonight’s event, courtesy of the Washington Post‘s blogger Erik Wemple, right here.