IAWP LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION April/May 2008 Archives Home Page ***Weekly Update*** From Legislative Committee Chair: Todd Kolden, Aberdeen Central Office Week of April 7, 2008 TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE UPDATE Effort to pass reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program may be a step closer. The Majority in the House and Senate have indicated consideration of the Columbia Free Trade Agreement, a priority for President Bush, is contingent upon implementation of an expanded TAA program. The House of Representatives passed the TAA reauthorization bill, H.R. 3920 on October 31, 2007. The bill included provisions relating to unemployment insurance modernization and an enhanced Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), but the Administration issued a veto threat against the House-passed TAA bill saying it would create "a universal income support and training program." It is unclear whether these provisions will remain in the Senate bill, S. 1848, sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus. However, in a speech this week, Senator Baucus (MT) said TAA "has to pass" and indicated he is working with the Administration to draft a bipartisan bill. INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS ROSE 38,000 TO 407,000 The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased this week to the highest level since just after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. In the week ending March 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 407,000, an increase of 38,000 from the previous week's revised average of 358,750. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment -- known as continuing claims -- during the week ending March 22 was 2,937,000, an increase of 97,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,840,000. UI HEARING SCHEDULED Representative James McDermott (WA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support of the Committee on Ways and Means, announced this week the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to assess the need to extend unemployment benefits given current labor market conditions. The hearing will take place on Thursday, April 10. In announcing the hearing, Chairman McDermott declared, "We should extend unemployment benefits now. It's the right thing to do for workers and their families, and it's the right thing to do for our economy. We have almost twice as many long-term unemployed workers compared to the beginning of the last recession, and nearly all of the economic indicators are telling us the employment picture will get even worse in the coming months." Week of May 28, 2008 SENATE APPROVES MEASURE EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS AND UI ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDING • On May 22nd, the Senate, by a 75-22 vote, approved legislation extending Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits and providing $110 million to assist states with the administrative costs of processing UI claims, as part of a "must-pass" Iraq war funding bill. • The House approved a similar UI extension last week on a 256-166 vote, which was 30 votes short of a veto-proof margin. While both versions contain the UI extension and $110 million in UI grants to states, the bills differ on policy and funding issues, and a compromise version will not be considered until Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess the week of June 3. Even when a compromise version reaches the President, it may be subject to a veto. • The bill extends unemployment benefits for workers who have exhausted their benefits by up to 13 weeks in every state. In states with higher levels of unemployment, defined as a seasonally-adjusted six percent total unemployment rate or a four percent insured unemployment rate, an additional 13 weeks would be available. The extended benefits program would terminate on March 31, 2009. Week of April 14, 2008 NEW STIMULUS PACKAGE UNDER CONSIDERATION • Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) are supporting an extension of unemployment insurance benefits in a second economic stimulus package, expected to be considered by the end of May in the House of Representatives. • While details have not been released, Senate Leader Reid said this week "We're going to look at the supplemental not only for the war funding, which is $109 billion, but also what we can do on this bill...for summer jobs programs, extending unemployment benefits, some things that would be simulative to the economy." BIPARTISAN BILL WOULD EXTEND JOBLESS BENEFITS BY 13 WEEKS - JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE RELEASES UI REPORT • Rep. Jim McDermott (D, WA), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee, held a hearing this week examining the need to extend unemployment benefits. • Hearing witnesses generally favored an extension of unemployment benefits in all states to help the growing number of long-term jobless workers, but some noted extended UI should be targeted to areas only with high unemployment, because jobs remain "relatively plentiful" in some parts of the country and the national unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in March, is low by historical standards. • However, Chairman McDermott, referring to an analysis by the Joint Economic Committee noted an extension was needed because long-term unemployment is already higher when compared to levels in 2001 when Congress extended UI benefits and 1.3 million workers will exhaust their UI benefits between January and June 2008. • Chairman McDermott (D, WA) announced legislation he is sponsoring with Rep. Philip S. English (R, PA) to provide extended unemployment benefits in every State. The legislation will provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits with another 13 weeks available in high unemployment States. IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION -- UNFUNDED MANDATE SAYS CBO • In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers (MI), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said, H.R. 4088, an immigration bill mandating the use of E-Verify would decrease federal revenues by more than $17 million and impose an unfunded mandate on state agencies. • CBO found H.R. 4088 would impose intergovernmental mandates by requiring employers, including public entities, to verify the work eligibility of their employees and by requiring state agencies to maintain records related to birth registries. • The legislation will cost states, employers and employees as much as $204 million because "some employers currently withholding income and employment taxes from the wages of undocumented workers and reporting these amounts to the Internal Revenue Service through the use of an individual tax or identification number or other employee identification would no longer withhold or report such taxes," according to CBO. • The bill would mandate use of the E-Verify system, an Internet-based system that electronically compares information on the I-9 employment form with records at the SSA and the Department of Homeland Security. COLUMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT MAY SPUR ACTION ON TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE • President Bush sent to Congress this week the Columbia free-trade pact, normally triggering a 90 day time for Congress to Act - known as fast track. However, the House Majority removed the 90-day timetable in a 224-195 vote so that other measures, such as a second stimulus package and reauthorization of Trade Adjustment Assistance can be considered in conjunction with a vote on the Columbia free trade pact. • The Administration has been reluctant to embrace a second economic stimulus package until the impact of tax rebate checks from the first stimulus is known. The Majority in both chambers have said the TAA program, which is designed to help workers who lose their jobs as a result of foreign competition, must be expanded before the Columbia free-trade agreement could be considered. • Although the TAA program expired at the end of 2007, Congress included funding to maintain the program in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (P.L.110-161) through September 30. Efforts to craft a bipartisan bill in the Senate are underway.