With the modest job creation numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor yesterday (about 103,000 jobs added in December 2010; unemployment rate down to 9.4%), it is more important than ever that the EB-5 Regional Center Program be permanently authorized so it can be a permanent part of the economic recovery toolkit, aimed specifically at job creation. A sustained economic recovery will require every job creating policy tool out there, especially those that cost the public zero. In 2008, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored H.R. 5569, a bill that would have extended the EB-5 Regional Center Program for five years, as revenue neutral.
With job creation as focus in the newly seated 112th Congress, we hope its members will ensure the long term existence of this job creating Program with swift legislative action.
