***Weekly Update***
From Legislative Committee Chair: Todd Kolden, Aberdeen Central Office
Week of June 24, 2008
UI PROVISIONS INTACT AS HOUSE PASSES BIPARTISAN WAR FUNDING BILL
• The U.S. House of Representatives approved bipartisan supplemental appropriations legislation on June 19th. The legislation is supported by the White House and includes important unemployment insurance provisions for NASWA members.
• As in previous versions passed by the House and Senate, the legislation, H.R. 2642, known as the Supplemental Appropriations Act, contains a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and includes $110 million to assist states with the administrative costs of processing UI claims.
• However, unlike previous efforts, House Majority and Minority leaders were able to reach a compromise; potentially ending the back and forth over the war funding bill between the House and Senate. In an important move, the Bush Administration officially endorsed the House package Wednesday and issued a statement of administration policy.
• The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate. Democratic Leader Senator Harry Reid (NV) did not say whether he could get the House-passed bill through the Senate without any changes, but all sides are eager to get a bill to the president before the July 4th congressional recess, which is scheduled to begin June 30th.
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Compromise on UI Extension
• Part of the compromise included a scaled-back version of the UI extension. While the version which passed this week includes a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits for all states, a second, 13-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits in states with unemployment rates at 6 percent or higher, was removed.
• In addition, the bill includes language requiring beneficiaries to have worked up to 20 weeks before they would be eligible for extended benefits.
$110 Administrative Funding: Grants to States
• As in previous iterations of the supplemental appropriations bill, the version passed by the House this week provides $110 million in Grants to States and is summarized below.
Grants to Legislative Agenda
Official Title: H.R. 2642: Providing for Consideration of the Senate Amendments to the House Amendments to the Senate Amendment to Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008
House Amendment to the Senate Amendment #2 , (page 54 and 55)
CHAPTER 4
LABOR AND HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION STATE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICE OPERATIONS
For an additional amount for "State Unemployment Insurance and Employment Service Operations" for grants to the States for the administration of State unemployment insurance, $110,000,000, which may be expended from the Employment Security Administration Account in the Unemployment Trust Fund, to be used for unemployment insurance workloads experienced by the States through September 30, 2008, which shall be available for Federal obligation through December 31, 2008. Explanatory Statement to accompany the House Amendment
CHAPTER 4
LABOR AND HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION STATE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICE OPERATIONS
The amended bill provides $110,000,000 for Unemployment Compensation State Operations to compensate the States for the administrative costs of processing the Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims workload for the balance of fiscal year 2008. New UI claims are increasing, reaching a level in April 2008 nearly 18 percent greater than the previous year. States are beginning to experience service degradation in the form of call center delays for claimants, waiting times for adjudication of disputed claims, and reductions in program integrity activities, tax collection, and tax audits. While funding in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 is sufficient to cover the costs of processing 2.4 million Average Weekly Insured Unemployment (AWIU), claims have already climbed above 2.9 million AWIU. The amount provided will compensate States for the claims workload estimated by the Department of Labor up to the point where additional funds are released under a legislated trigger.
LABOR APPROPRIATIONS BILL MOVES THROUGH SUBCOMMITTEE
• The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Resources, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-Education) took the first step this week in piecing together a FY 2009 spending bill for the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Although specific numbers have not been released, the Subcommittee rejected the cuts to the workforce system as proposed in USDOL's Fiscal Year 2009 budget and proposed a budget of $11.7 billion, compared with USDOL's proposed $10.5 billion, an increase of $722 million.
• Subcommittee outline.
o Wagner-Peyser Grants to States:
NASWA was pleased the outline provided $703 million for Wagner-Peyser Employment Grants to States, a program serving more than 13 million people. The USDOL budget for fiscal Year 2009 proposed eliminating all funding for this program.
o Dislocated Workers
The outline proposed a $40 million increase to help unemployed workers obtain new job skills, including $22.5 million for a new "green collar jobs" training initiative. The USDOL budget for fiscal year 2009 proposed a $241 million cut to this program.
o Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
The outline proposed $3.3 billion for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) job training and employment assistance programs, rejecting the $583 million cut proposed in the USDOL budget for fiscal year 2009.
o State Unemployment Insurance Operations
The outline proposed $172 million more than last year for so that States can process rising unemployment benefit claims.
FINANCE CHAIR SAYS SIDES 'QUITE CLOSE' ON TAA AGREEMENT
• Offering cautious optimism on what has been an elusive goal, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (MT) said an agreement between Senate leaders and the White House on an expanded Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program is nearly at hand, possibly by month's end.
• Senator Baucus wants to expand current TAA coverage so that it provides assistance to workers in the service sector who are displaced by trade, enables workers to better afford health insurance through tax breaks, and puts more money into worker retraining programs.
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