With President Obama’s jobs package facing a handful of Democratic defections in the Senate, the White House released a letter from 16 Democratic governors who are standing squarely behind the bill in a last-ditch lobbying blitz before the Tuesday night vote.
The jobs bill faces almost certain defeat Tuesday night on a procedural motion requiring 60 votes to stop a GOP filibuster. All Republicans are expected to oppose it– and even a handful of Democratic senators are poised to vote no.
But the Democratic governors who signed onto the letter to House and Senate leaders are urging Congress to swiftly pass the American Jobs Act, which they say draws upon many ideas that governors — Democratic and Republicans alike — are putting into action in the states.
“It is an economic and historic truth that, to create jobs, a modern economy requires modern investments,” they wrote. “As President Obama has stated, to create jobs, we must also be willing to educate, innovate and rebuild. Our global competitors are investing in their infrastructure and in the skills and education of their workforce. To create jobs in
our communities, we must be willing to do the same.”
There are currently 22 governors of states and U.S. territories. None of the governors from states facing Senate Democratic defections signed the bill. The signers include: Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, California Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr., New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr., Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, Washington, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin.
Democratic governors not signing the letter are: Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Democratic Senators who could oppose the bill Tuesday night include: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Montana Sen. Jon Tester.
