Las Vegas - Marking the first anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released a statement praising the bill for creating and saving thousands of jobs in Nevada.

"When our economy dove into a crisis of epic proportions last year, Congress acted boldly and bravely to get people back to work—and to solve the problems that got us here in the first place," said SEIU Local President Al Martinez.

"The thousands of Nevadans who are now happily employed as a direct result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act may have a long list of people to thank, but right at the top is Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Senator Reid championed the legislation that stopped the bleeding in a devastating recession, provided critical fiscal relief to our states, and put people back to work. Without his leadership, our economy could've been in crisis for years or even decades to come," continued Martinez.

The Recovery Act will invest $3 billion in Nevada –with over half that money already spent-- providing tax relief, filling gaps in Medicaid funding, incentivizing small business lending, jump-starting highway construction projects, and working to revitalize communities. The initiatives have led to over 20,000 jobs created or retained in the state so far.  Nevada's clean energy sector alone received over half a billion dollars from the Recovery Act, including $9.8 million towards clean energy job training.

The state fiscal relief provisions in the Recovery Act helped limit public sector layoffs proposed to respond to deep budget gaps in FY2010. Despite the important role the Recovery Act has played, Nevadans are still hurting and without additional fiscal relief, new budget gaps could force state governments to shed 900,000 jobs this year across the country.  Congress must act to provide states more relief.

"Senator Reid not only understands the critical role state fiscal relief plays in staving off public sector layoffs and getting our economy back on track, he has introduced legislation to address this crucial issue and ensure that Nevada gets through this difficult economic time. We look forward to working with Senator Reid to pass this crucial legislation," said Yoni Johnson, UMC Hospital employee and SEIU Nevada Union Leader.

To commemorate the anniversary of the Recovery Act, SEIU released a report touting the success of the legislation. The report, which can be viewed at www.seiu.org or here, notes that the Recovery Act helped counter the recession by protecting human services and the workers employed to deliver those services at a local level.