COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 7, 2005

Support More Flexibility, Greater Control for Workers Displaced by Gulf Coast Hurricanes

Cosponsor the Worker Recovery Act (H.R. 3976)

Dear Colleague:

As Congress and the Bush Administration work with Gulf Coast officials on the hurricane recovery and reconstruction effort, we have taken another step in the right direction to help tens of thousands of workers displaced from their jobs by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Yesterday, we introduced a key component of the recovery plan President Bush outlined in his address to the nation from New Orleans last month: the Worker Recovery Act.  This bill would create worker recovery accounts (WRAs) to provide displaced, unemployed Gulf Coast workers additional flexibility, greater choice, and more control over their employment search. 

WRAs are personally managed funds of up to $5,000 targeted to help dislocated Gulf Coast workers who are receiving Disaster Unemployment Assistance or Unemployment Insurance and likely to exhaust these benefits.  These accounts supplement and enhance services that are already available for those who are most likely to face obstacles in finding and keeping new employment, from unemployment compensation benefits to core employment and training services offered through the Workforce Investment Act. 

Accounts could be used to purchase a variety of services to help displaced workers find new jobs.  Recipients may purchase employment counseling, job training, child care, uniforms, or transportation services with WRA funds.  If an individual becomes employed within 13 weeks of receiving a WRA, the balance of the account up to $1,000 would be paid to the recipient.  WRAs would be efficiently administered through the easily accessible one-stop career center system, where the unemployed already seek assistance in obtaining employment. 

A concept similar to the Worker Recovery Act – a personal reemployment account (PRA) pilot project to help unemployed Americans return to work quickly – already was approved by the House earlier this year as part of the Workforce Investment Act reauthorization bill (H.R. 27).  We hope you’ll join us again in providing the same flexibility and resources to displaced Gulf Coast workers at a time when they need it most.

If you would like to cosponsor the bill, please contact Rob Gregg at 5-7101, and join us in supporting the Worker Recovery Act (H.R. 3976).

Sincerely,