Obama Stimulus Package to Include Tech College Funding!

On January 8, 2009, President-elect Barack Obama gave a speech calling for dramatic action for American Recovery and Reinvestment.

It is remarkable and significant that Obama included investing in community college infrastructure as part of plan he will take to Congress. While MATC is a technical college, the Wisconsin ’s 16 technical colleges are part of the proposed stimulus plan.

Governor Doyle’s has requested $100 million for Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) projects including funding for the districts’ three year capital improvement budgets as well as individual district construction and remodeling projects that are under development.

President-elect Obama and Governor Jim Doyle are focusing on projects that are “ready to go.” The WTCS proposal included planned maintenance that was deferred because of funding, projects that had failed public referendum approval and projects that were in the WTCS facilities development and approval pipeline, which, potentially, could be completed or initiated in 2009.

Below is the specific portion of President-elect Obama’s speech regarding two-year colleges.:

"To give our children the chance to live out their dreams in a world that's never been more competitive, we will equip tens of thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries. We'll provide new computers, new technology, and new training for teachers so that students in Chicago and Boston can compete with kids in Beijing for the high-tech, high-wage jobs of the future. "

While we do not have specifics, Local 212 is very encouraged by the inclusion of two-year college infrastructure in the President-elect Obama's economic recovery proposal. We will continue to share information as it becomes available.

The full speech can be found here:
http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/dramatic_action/