With President Obama in Raleigh today speaking about his proposed American Jobs Act, it’s worth taking a moment to note the potential impact of the bill on North Carolinians should it pass Congress.

According to data released by the White House, the American Jobs Act would:

• Cut workers’ payroll tax in half, resulting in a tax cut of $1,300 for a family at North Carolina’s median income of about $42,000,
• Give a payroll tax cut to 170,000 small businesses in North Carolina,
• Provide North Carolina with nearly $800 million for highway and transit modernization projects, $676 million to repair and upgrade public schools, and $163 million to modernize community colleges, creating an estimated 20,000 or more local jobs,
• Provide over $900 million to support 13,400 jobs for teachers and first responders,
• Prevent 90,400 out-of-work North Carolinians from losing their unemployment insurance benefits, and
• Create a Pathways Back to Work Fund that could put 4,000 adults and 12,700 youth back to work.

In the coming days, we aim to take a more in-depth look at the likely impact of the separate parts of the American Jobs Act on North Carolinians and the state’s economy.