WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee to consider a major trade package, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) offered an amendment to increase funding for the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program and expand TAA eligibility to public sector workers, making all workers eligible for TAA. Despite bipartisan support – including the support of almost every Democrat on the Committee – the Committee did not adopt the amendment.

“We can’t leave American workers to fend for themselves after they’ve lost their jobs to foreign trade,” Brown said. “The Trade Adjustment Assistance program gives these workers the ability to train for skilled jobs in growing fields. Congress shouldn’t be in the business of picking winners and losers. This amendment will ensure that all workers are eligible for this critical program.”

The underlying bill extends the program, which is set to expire in September 2015, through 2020 at $450 million. Brown’s amendment would fund the program at its previous level of $575 million and restore funding levels for TAA for firms. The trade bill also includes improvements called for in Brown’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Act to make more workers, including service sector workers and those who have lost their jobs to countries with which the U.S. does not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) – such as China  – eligible for TAA benefits. Brown’s amendment would further expand eligibility to include public sector workers, in effect making all workers eligible for TAA.

In February, Brown introduced the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act to extend and improve TAA for displaced workers. Between 2009 and 2014 TAA provided retraining assistance to more than 20,000 Ohio workers who lost their jobs to foreign trade.

Brown has long been an advocate for the TAA program and has fought to ensure that workers have the training and tools they need to fill jobs in high-growth industries. In November 2014, Brown successfully led a group of 14 senators in calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to maintain funding for the TAA program so workers could continue to receive benefits through September 2015. In February 2011, Brown led 13 senators in urging House leadership to extend TAA. As one of the last acts before the 111th Congress adjourned, Brown secured a six-week extension of the TAA program, in addition to the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC).

Administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), TAA is a federal program that identifies workers who have lost their jobs or seen hours or wages reduced as a result of increased imports and helps them prepare for new careers. The program extends benefits including training for employment in another job or career, income support, job search allowances, and relocation allowances. Qualified workers may quickly return to work through a combination of these services. DOL estimates that since 1975, two million workers nationwide have relied on TAA to make ends meet and receive training necessary to find a new job. Brown released a county-by-county list of Ohio companies affected by foreign trade whose workers used TAA benefits to help train for new jobs.

 

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