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"Getting job creation right," an opinion piece by Bill Lann Lee, Co-Founder of The Opportunity Agenda, and Alan Jenkins, Co-Founder and Executive Director, appeared today in Politico.

Arguing that although the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and saved many jobs, unemployment is still at its highest levels in a quarter-century and more work needs to be done. Lee and Jenkins offer three suggestions for lawmakers:

First, lawmakers should do more to promote prosperity in the future while jump-starting job growth immediately. A jobs bill should include investments in job training and retraining for 21st-century industries like health care, information technology and biotech. This will help every willing worker, while addressing some of the disadvantages confronting minorities, women and low-wage workers.

Second, the Obama administration should track data on job creation and infrastructure creation far more closely. It should keep track of the demographics and geography of Americans who would be hired for, or affected by, projects funded by the stimulus program or the new jobs bill. This is essential for promoting greater accountability — and equal opportunity.

Third, federal agencies and state and local funding recipients should submit an “opportunity impact statement.” This would be like an environmental impact statement, but instead of looking at the impact on endangered species, it would examine the impact on vulnerable communities.

Read more on Politico.