Governor Working on Jobs

The Governor came together with a group of business professionals from the state to work on improving the state's jobs. The problem is, there are many different opinions about what the area needs to do about jobs and job creation. Gov. Martin O'Malley and top cabinet members came together in the 2012 Symposium on Job Creation to discuss just that. However, not everyone is agreeing with the plans in place.

What Happened

At the meeting, held this week, O'Malley pushed for the idea to spend more money on improving transportation infrastructure in the state. He noted that doing so could add thousands of jobs to the Baltimore job market as well as to the state overall. One of the thoughts was to build a Red line extension that would be added to the Baltimore Metro. In addition, he would add a Purple line that would travel into Washington DC. This could add thousands of jobs but would cost about 23.5 cents per gallon tax. He claims for every $1 billion spent on infrastructure, that the addition of 13,000 jobs would be likely.

What is the problem? In order to push through a project like this, the government would have to find a way to cut the red tape. In fact, to get a single permit for a project like this could take a year or more. That is more time than many can wait when it comes to improving the Baltimore job market. The event had many who were outspoken against the idea.

What do you think? Does this type of addition to the Baltimore jobs market really make sense right now? Is it better as a long-term goal instead?