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(Washington D.C.)- Rep. Sander Levin, who worked to get a new Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program included in the Recovery Act, issued the following statement about the supplemental allocation of TAA funds for Michigan.
“An important part of the Recovery Act was the inclusion of a totally revamped Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program and Michigan is now seeing the benefit of this expanded program, said Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI). “Because we nearly tripled the money available for training workers, the Department of Labor is now able to immediately make this additional funding available to Michigan totaling close to $50 million.”
Secretary Solis is to make this funding announcement at an event in Michigan this morning. Michigan is estimated to receive one of the largest supplemental allocations in the nation.
The additional money is broken down as follows:
Training - $43.1 million
Administration and Case Management - $6.9 million
This supplemental allocation is in addition to the normal allocation a state receives each year based on the number of TAA eligible workers they have in the program. In Michigan, the base 2009 funding was $9.6 million and in 2008 Michigan ended up receiving $28 million for the entire year. The total amount now for 2009 is double the amount Michigan received in 2008.
“Unlike past recessions when many workers returned to their same jobs, the Michigan economy is undergoing a transformation that requires training for new careers as we fight to preserve the auto industry and the jobs it provides,” said Rep. Levin. “There are good training opportunities around the State, but too often workers are on waiting lists because of a lack of resources.”
Background
In 2008, the TAA overhaul was approved in the U.S. House only to be stymied in the Senate. At the beginning of 2009, Rep. Levin worked to reach agreement with the Senate so the new program could be incorporated into the Recovery legislation.
The overhauled TAA program has many important impacts in Michigan as the program was expanded to cover more workers and make the benefits more flexible and accessible.
Key expansions include:
• expands eligibility to workers in services industries and the public sector
• includes an automatic eligibility for workers suffering from unfair trade and import surges.
• Expands eligibility for manufacturers of component parts
• increases funds available for training programs by nearly 160 percent and provides more flexible training
• makes health care more available and affordable for covered workers
• assists trade-affected American firms become more competitive
• creates new opportunities for workers in communities negatively affected by trade
• makes benefits available to workers whose jobs are offshored to any country, like China, as opposed to those the U.S. has free trade agreements with, as was the case in the previous law.
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