Congressman Foster breaks down stimulus package for 14th District
Residents of the 14th Congressional District already familiar with "Joe the Plumber" will soon get to know Tim the Painter.
Tim Beaird, an unemployed union painter from Aurora, became the figurehead of the impact of the federal stimulus package in Illinois' 14th Congressional District Tuesday. Congressman Bill Foster used Beaird's plight as an example of how the stimulus will help the unemployed.
Beaird hasn't worked since September and was only employed three months total in 2008. His wife has asthma and works at a day care. Their only insurance comes through COBRA at a cost of almost $750 a month.
"Between her check and mine, it isn't much, but it helps for our costs for our house and paying our bills," Beaird said. "I think we need the recovery. It will help me and my family right now, which is when I need it. My unemployment check will come for awhile longer now."
COBRA Insurance should get a little more manageable for many. There remains a cap of 18 months of COBRA coverage when an employee is laid off. Any person qualifying for COBRA after Sept. 1, 2008 is eligible for a COBRA subsidy of 65 percent for up to nine months.
Also as part of the stimulus package, the 14th District is expected to benefit from an influx of jobs.
White House estimates show Illinois benefiting from 148,000 new jobs based on estimates about the economy in general and the state's worker profile.
The 14th District stands to see up to 9,400 of those new jobs. That's the highest estimate of any Congressional district in the state and among the highest in the country.
Foster said job creation and unemployment benefits were the two main reasons he supports the stimulus.
"Creating jobs for the 14th District is not just important for my constituents, but for the health of the economy," Foster said. "The recovery won't be complete overnight. While we wait for some of the recovery aspects to take hold we need to help the growing ranks of the unemployed. We need to buy them some time and make sure families in the 14th District have money to pay their bills."
Most of the jobs are likely to come through the giant infusion of infrastructure and science funding.
By far, the most dollars for Illinois in that category come in the form of more than $900 million for highway funding.
That's good news for the county and municipal governments that send lists of "shovel-ready" projects to Foster in hopes of receiving federal funding. The bad news is those governments will have to wait in line.
To help avoid earmarks or "pork projects," the dollars will be administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Governments must apply for funding through a grant process that Foster said he will walk applicants through.