Kalin Doesn’t Fulfill His Promise

In a political insert for newspapers for the last week of October, Rep. Jeremy Kalin (D-17B) bragged, "I helped create 40,000 new jobs." So where are the jobs?

First Kalin asserted on Feb. 22, "Passage of this [transportation] bill will also result in over 30,000 new jobs every year for the next five years – nearly all from private contractors."

A few days later it increased when on Feb. 25 he wrote (also here), "I am supporting this bill because more than 31,000 new jobs a year will be created by private contractors, repairing and building our roads and bridges."

On the same day, Senator Olseen increased this figure: "This transportation funding package will not only improve the safety of the state’s roads and bridges, but will create an estimated 33,000 jobs per year." After Feb. 28, Kalin’s campaign manager, Wade Vitalis, wrote, "But it is also a fact that 33,000 jobs/year will be created by the transportation bill recently passed by the legislature."

On May 27, Kalin reported, "The Roads and Bridges Bill will invest in our long-term infrastructure and grow at least 33,000 jobs a year for the next five years - nearly all through private-sector construction firms."

In the same press release, Kalin wrote, "We balanced the budget, provided property tax relief, adopted meaningful health care reform, delivered new funding for schools and area nursing homes, helped create more than 40,000 new jobs, and enacted the historic 2008 Roads and Bridges bill" without explaining how he arrived at the 40,000 figures versus the 33,000 figure.

And now he brags, "I helped create 40,000 new jobs."

All this bragging occurred while reporter Tom Hauser took the claim to task on Feb. 19. The link is available here, but the video story apparently is no longer available. We had noted it here.

So where are the jobs that Rep. Kalin created? The unemployment rate is up a half percent since his first announcement in February. During that time span, 19,000 more people are out of work. The Dem’s and Kalin’s claim was unfounded and reckless. By virtue of his promise, the unemployment rate should have dropped.