91视频

For out-of-work contractors, even a week’s worth of work looks good. But what to do when that week ends?

Contractors say that’s the blessing and curse of Oregon’s stimulus package, which became law in February and rapidly got work started on mostly small projects.

Copeland Sand & Gravel won a $127,000 stimulus contract to fix a parking lot at the Grants Pass armory.

鈥淭hat allowed us to call back a number of people who were laid off,鈥� said Bill Peterson, the company’s director of administration.

That was good news for the 20 people working on the paving crew, Peterson said. 鈥淏ut it was a three-day paving project.鈥�

Of 547 stimulus projects, 196 were completed and work was underway on another 287 by the beginning of July, creating a total of 839 new jobs, according to the state Department of Administrative Services. The agency also reported that stimulus projects saved a further 3,727 jobs that would have been lost otherwise.

Supporters have said the stimulus would create 3,000 new jobs. A January press release from Senate President Peter Courtney’s office, titled 鈥淪enate passes measure to create 3,000 jobs,鈥� makes no reference to saving existing jobs.

On Thursday, Courtney, D-Salem, told the 91视频 that in terms of the stimulus effect, he doesn’t distinguish between jobs created and jobs saved.

鈥淚 don’t get into these things,鈥� Courtney said. 鈥淭o me, a job is a job. I just knew we were doing real projects that needed to be done.鈥�

Bryan Payant, president of McCormack Construction, said the small stimulus projects are like 鈥渟pitting in the ocean鈥� of the recession. His company, which does $8 million to $10 million of business annually, won a $300,000 Pendleton office building renovation as part of the state stimulus package.

鈥淚t’s not a very large project, and the duration is only 90 days,鈥� Payant said. 鈥淲hat impact it does have is short-term.

鈥淚s it really helping out? It is,鈥� Payant said. 鈥淚f it weren’t, those jobs wouldn’t be there. But is it significant enough to make a difference? Not really.鈥�

Most Republican legislators echoed those concerns when the stimulus package was debated in January.

Because Oregon’s tax structure wasn’t changed to help small businesses, they argued, job gains would not be sustained.

In fact, Nick Smith, a spokesman for state Rep. Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg, said Thursday that tax increases have made the climate more hostile to business.

Other Republicans broke with their party to support the stimulus package. State Rep. Bob Jenson, R-Pendleton, said he had no illusions that the package would pull Oregon from a recession 鈥� or a depression, as he prefers to call it.

鈥淚 think visions that this would have turned the whole economy around were shortsighted,鈥� Jenson said. 鈥淭he idea was to put some immediate dollars into the economy, to try to start circulating dollars, and we did that.鈥�

House Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Clackamas County, said the jobs had to be small for the stimulus to work.

鈥淭he reason we did it at the beginning of the session was because the other pieces 鈥� the jobs and transportation act, health care reform, the affordable housing package, energy-efficient rehabilitation and remodeling 鈥� those jobs take longer to come on line.鈥�

鈥淭hese jobs act as a bridge,鈥� Hunt said.

Whether the bridge is long enough to reach to those measures 鈥� or to the $1.3 billion capital construction bill passed on the last day of the legislative session 鈥� remains to be seen. Peterson, of Copeland Sand & Gravel, said he’s waiting to see if that happens. He doesn’t have other jobs lined up for the company.

鈥淲e’re really all looking forward to that,鈥� he said.