(Washington D.C.)- Representative Sander Levin urged Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Dr. Ed Montgomery to quickly implement the new Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Communities program. The program is designed to provide aid to communities when a key trade-affected industry closes or downsizes and creates severe economic challenges for an entire community. The program was created in the Trade and Globalization Act approved as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and received a $40 million appropriation in the Supplemental Appropriation that President Obama signed into law today.
Rep. Levin was one of the principle authors of Trade and Globalization Act which expanded TAA to cover more workers and provide more training resources and he fought to include these provisions in the Recovery Act.
Below is the full text of the letter.
Dear Secretary Locke and Dr. Montgomery:
As part of the American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009, Congress enacted the Trade and Globalization Adjustment Assistance Act of 2009, which expanded and overhauled the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program and created a new TAA for Communities program to provide broader assistance when the closure or downsizing of a key industry, company or plant creates severe economic challenges for an entire community impacted by trade.
Because of the importance of this program, Congress acted quickly to provide $40 million for the TAA for Communities program and the existing TAA for Firms program in the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009, which has been presented to President Obama for his signature.
It is essential that the Communities program become operational quickly. The Supplemental Appropriation Act’s Joint Explanatory Statement states that “within 60 days of the enactment of this Act, the Department is directed to submit a plan to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations as to how this program will be implemented,” but I hope you will act even quicker than that timeframe.
This program is an important opportunity for auto-impacted communities. Indeed, when President Obama named Dr. Montgomery as the director of the new Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers program, he stated:
When a community is struck by a natural disaster, the nation responds to put it back on its feet.... While the storm that has hit our auto towns is not a tornado or a hurricane, the damage is clear, and we must likewise respond.
The TAA for Communities program is designed to address the very problem that the President describes. Under the program, the Secretary of Commerce provides technical assistance to an affected community to assist it to (1) diversify and strengthen its economy; (2) identify impediments to economic development; (3) develop a community strategic plan to address economic adjustment and workforce dislocation; and (4) implement a strategic plan designed to foster the community’ economic adjustment.
As there is little doubt that many of these auto communities are trade-impacted, they would be eligible for the robust assistance that the program offers. Therefore the implementation of this program comes at a very important time as communities are being notified of additional plant closures and need assistance to devise local economic redevelopment strategies made even more difficult by the current economic downturn and ongoing credit crisis. The TAA for Communities program can help to support, leverage and effectuate comprehensive and community-based re-development efforts.
As one of the authors of the TAA overhaul, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss with you the implementation of the Communities program, especially because communities within the 12th Congressional District have both past experience with the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process that led to the transfer of federal property for local development and present need with the restructuring underway in the auto industry.
Sincerely,
Sander Levin
Member of Congress
