By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Alabama House Minority Leader Craig Ford (D) from Gadsden said in an editorial that: “Jobs should be our priority.”
Majority Leader Ford said, “For four years, our country and our state have struggled to recover from what economists are calling “The Great Recession.” It is no surprise that all the public opinion polls show the number one issue on voters’ minds is – by far – jobs and the economy.”
Rep. Ford said that, “Republican leaders in Montgomery have been claiming that Alabama is recovering and creating jobs. They point to the state’s declining unemployment rate as proof. But Alabama has lost more than 8,600 jobs since January, while at the same time our unemployment rate dropped.”
Rep. Ford said that, “Alabama’s drop in unemployment has more to do with people dropping out of the work force and no longer being including in the statistic than it does with people getting jobs. The unemployment rate only counts people of working age who are actively employed or looking for work. Anyone who has not actively looked for work in more than four weeks is not counted. This means that people who want to work but have given up because there are no jobs to be had are no longer counted as unemployed; and that skews the statistic.”
Rep. Ford said, “The unemployment rate also does not distinguish between those who are full-time employees and those who are part-time. So the numbers do not indicate if the jobs that are created are good jobs that pay a livable wage or minimum wage jobs that cannot support the average family. Even having a good education is not enough to guarantee a job anymore. In April, the Associated Press reported that one in two college students is either unemployed or underemployed.“
State representative Ford said that both federal and state leaders are to blame. “Neither the leadership in Washington nor the leadership in Montgomery have been able to deliver on their campaign promises to bring us out of this recession.” “Our leadership in Washington and Montgomery needs to focus on what we can do to create jobs. Job creation must be our priority when the legislature returns to Montgomery next year.”
Rep. Ford said that while he supports, ”Incentive plans to recruit new business and to help existing businesses expand. But the heart of our recovery must focus on boosting consumer and employer confidence.”
Representative Ford was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2000 and was elected by the Alabama House Democratic Caucus as the Democratic Minority Leader of the State House of Representatives in 2010 following the Republican takeover of both Houses of the Alabama Legislature. The top two Democrats in the 2010 legislative session did not return. Speaker Seth Hammett retired and Democratic Majority Leader Ken Guin was defeated in the 2010 election. Majority Leader Ford was reelected Minority Leader in 2012.
