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Local Hire is Here at Last

Contact: Gordon Mayer, Gamaliel, 312-307-0133

CHICAGO, March 5, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- Transportation and jobs advocates are delighted after a briefing Wednesday on new federal Transportation Department regulations authorizing "local hire."

Women, people of color, veterans and low-income people will all gain greater access to jobs on federal highway and transit construction projects as a result of the regulation. Those projects include roads, bridges, light-rail, buses, street cars and bus-rapid transit will be affected -- a significant portion of some $52.5 billion in the annual federal budget.

"This makes it easier for states and cities to hire local residents for transportation projects in their communities," said David Walls, co-chair of Gamaliel and Transportation Equity Network national jobs campaign and leader of North Bay Organizing Project in California. "It fits with our work to increase access to jobs for people in our communities so that we can fix our ailing infrastructure, get people back to work, and try to make sure those good-paying jobs go to people who historically may not have had access to them."

While technically the new regulation is only in proposal form at this time, the rule calls for a pilot project under which local hiring programs can start right away (The Notice of Proposed Rule Making, NPRM, regulation text is available at bit.ly/localhirenprm). The local hire pilot projects are available immediately by application through U.S. DOT regional offices. The NPRM allows folks on the ground to provide comment on the viability and importance of local hire to communities across the country.

Advocates say they will reach out to transportation authorities, metropolitan planning organizations and other bodies to submit applications in the coming weeks. Groups like MOSES in Detroit, which advocated to create the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority recently, will work to make sure area residents can access these jobs.

Alongside local hire, Gamaliel and its campaign arm the Transportation Equity Network have been advocating to update and enforce minority and women's hiring goals set by the U.S. Department of Labor, increase equal opportunities through apprenticeship programs, and enforce HUD low-income hiring regulations. They are planning to visit Washington to meet with elected and other officials to discuss this and an increase in transportation and infrastructure investments next month.

Gamaliel trains community and faith leaders to build political power and create organizations that unite people of diverse faiths and races to pursue equal opportunity for all, shared abundance, and stronger, more prosperous communities. More info at gamaliel.org.