Trade Adjustment Assistance

President Obama signed into law a renewal of expanded Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program along with the South Korea, Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements. To help offset the cost of the TAA expansions three Unemployment Insurance (UI) integrity provisions were included.

The TAA program was expanded in the 2009 Recovery Act legislation, but the provisions expired at the beginning of 2011. The bill signed by the President retroactively and temporarily renews many of the Recovery Act TAA provisions through 2013, including extension of coverage to workers in the service industry and the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC). However, the law is not as expansive as the 2009 TAA reforms in several areas.

The House of Representatives passed legislation to provide occupational training to out-of-work veterans as a way to counter growing unemployment in their ranks. The measure passed, 418-6, under suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure requiring a two-thirds majority for passage.

The legislation, HR 2433, the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act of 2011, would allow 100,000 unemployed veterans ages 35 through 64 to apply for Montgomery GI Bill (PL 78-346) benefits. Eligible veterans could choose to enhance their skills with up to a year of training for high-demand fields such as information technology and health care.
 
The bill, sponsored by Florida Republican Jeff Miller, Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, would require participating veterans to submit a monthly certification of enrollment in a specific course. The assistance each month would be equal to the basic educational benefits provided under the Montgomery GI Bill — a maximum of $1,426 a month for 2011. Payments would be made from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department’s readjustment benefits account.

Chairman Miller’s counterpart, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has moved forward with a different bill (S 951), which is expected to reach the Senate floor this year. It would provide employment opportunities for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Both bills would require service members to take part in the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) before returning to civilian status. The program, an interagency initiative coordinated by the departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs, is currently mandatory for Marines only.

Jobs Bill

The Senate Majority is considering alternatives to President Obama’s jobs bill.  The Senate rejected the latest version of the bill last week and will likely consider elements of the $447 billion measure with an eye toward breaking it into smaller bills.


House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, (R-VA) said Tuesday it was time to put aside “political games” and “find areas of commonality.” He said the House also would seek to move smaller pieces of the proposal, but it is not clear if the Senate Majority plans to offset smaller packages of spending programs or tax cuts with revenue increases similar to the 5.6 percent surtax on household income above $1 million used to finance the larger bill.

Although helping Americans with disabilities find work is a year-round focus, October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This is a national campaign that raises awareness about disability employment issues and validates the contributions of workers with disabilities.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month's roots go back to 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." In 1962, the word "physically" was removed, acknowledging the contributions of people with all forms of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to "National Disability Employment Awareness Month."

The theme for 2011is "Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities," which promotes the valuable contributions people with disabilities make to America's workplaces and economy.

Continuing Resolution

On October 4th, the House of Representatives approved a continuing resolution (H.R. 2608) to keep the federal government funded for the next six weeks. The legislation was needed because House and Senate appropriators have yet to finish work on the 12 regular appropriations bills for FY 2012. President Obama signed the continuing resolution into law late Tuesday night, keeping the government funded through November 18.

UI Interest Payments Due

States that borrowed from the federal government to keep unemployment benefits flowing through the recession now have to start paying those loans back.  Twenty seven states owe the federal government nearly $38 billion.  The first interest payments on those loans were due last Friday and totaled about $1.1 billion.

Businesses pay two types of unemployment insurance taxes. A federal tax primarily covers the administrative cost of the program, and a state tax pays for the basic benefits that laid-off workers receive. In most of the states that borrowed from the federal government, the federal tax will increase by $21 per worker next year. Similar increases will take place in subsequent years until the loans are paid in full. Meanwhile, the state taxes have soared in just about every state to deal with the strain caused by the high numbers of people applying for unemployment benefits.

New Year's Resolution?

Have you ever had a New Year's resolution?  I have.  This year started out for me with a personal family issue that made me stop and think about the things I was grateful for.  This inspired me to start a "grateful" journal where I made the commitment to write something EVERY DAY I was grateful for.  It's now 10 months later and I haven't missed a day writing in my journal.  I wish I could say the same for the IAWP Blog I started with such great expectations of myself.  Even though there hasn't been posts for a few months, I have been busy with IAWP activities.  I am making another commitment to keep you all up-to-date starting now and continuing until July 2013, when my year as president will end.  Be sure to look for posts regularly!