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Michigan congressman wants to spend more federal dollars on children's programs

Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Radio
:It pays off. And it pays off in fairly short order,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) told reporters at a news conference on "after school" programs. ";

Flint Congressman Dan Kildee says it’s time for the federal government to invest more in after school and youth employment programs.

Kildee plans to introduce a trio of bills this week that would pour billions of dollars into programs to provide jobs to teenagers in the summer, and after school programs where children can learn art, music and physical fitness.

Kildee says these programs help struggling communities, like Flint and Saginaw, that don’t have the resources to provide these kind of programs themselves.

“Even if one wanted to take a strict economic analysis, a more antiseptic look at after school programming,  it pays off and it pays off in fairly short order,” Kildee told reporters at a news conference at a Flint school last week.

Kildee’s bills would appropriate a billion dollars annually for the next five years for after-school programs, and $100 million for each of the next five years for summer youth employment programs.

The legislation faces an uncertain future in Congress. 

Steve Carmody has been a reporter for Michigan Public since 2005. Steve previously worked at public radio and television stations in Florida, Oklahoma and Kentucky, and also has extensive experience in commercial broadcasting.