AKRON, OH (WOIO) –
President Obama’s Jobs Bill was shot down by Senate Republicans Tuesday.
The bill failed to get the 60 votes it needed even with 53 Democratic seats in the Senate the bill needed Republican support, which just didn’t happen.
Republicans say the bill is more like a stimulus plan, that’s going to fail.
The next step: breaking the bill into smaller parts and voting on those.
Meantime the parts of that jobs bill could soon get a lot more important to hundreds of people in the Akron-Canton area.
600 postal workers could be out of work if a pair of processing plants shut down there.
Right in the center of Akron is the University of Akron. Students there want to stay but because there are no jobs they feel they have no future in Akron.
You can find plenty of students surfing the net at Angel Falls Coffee Company on West Market. And it seems like a lot of people are looking for jobs.
Barista Matt Hass says its been hell.
“Here in Akron there aren’t very many jobs. I want to go into business marketing and there aren’t very many opportunities for that here,” said Matt Hass.
The university has over 25,000 students with 100 undergrad programs. Students say they want to stay in the area but can’t find a job.
And some say, they’ll keep taking out loans and stay in school.
“Until I guess the economy gets better.”
There is no sign of that. The US Postal Service recently announced that the Akron and Canton mail processing facility could lose 600 jobs. And Akron is already in a state of fiscal caution.
For Matt he’s been lucky–he’s worked at Angel Falls Coffee for nine years. He has seen people come and go and believes the president’s jobs bill will be the highway to heaven for Akron and this is why…
“It seems like the university is growing but the number of places to work in a city that is shrinking in population is never going to even out,” said Matt Hass.
Studies show when job opportunities lessen college enrollment increases. That’s because people are looking at other career paths. But lately, that path seems to be crumbling.
Article Courtesy of WOIO 19 Action News
