The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Investing in the Workforce

 °  Recovery Home ° How the Recovery Bill Helps New Jersey ° Tax Relief ° Investing in Science ° 

 ° Investing in Transportation Infrastructure °  Investing in Health Care ° Investing in Energy ° Investing in Education ° 

 ° Investing in the Workforce ° Investing in Small Businesses  ° Media Page ° Contact Rush  ° 

Investing in Job Training

• Training and Employment Services:  Provides $3.95 billion for job training, including increased funding for formula grants for adult, dislocated worker, and youth job training; increased funding for the YouthBuild program; and funding for competitive grants for training in health care and green jobs.
• Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants:  Provides $500 million for state formula grants to help persons with disabilities prepare for employment. 
• Employment Services Grants:  Provides $400 million to match unemployed individuals with job openings through state employment service agencies and allow states to provide customized services.
• Community Service Employment for Older Americans:  Provides $120 million to provide subsidized community service jobs for low-income older Americans.

New Jersey will receive an estimated $9.5 million for adult training and employment, $33 million for youth and $21.1 million for dislocated workers (according to the Congressional Research Service)

Extending and Improving Unemployment Benefits

• To help those who have lost jobs due to the economic downturn, the bill continues the extended unemployment benefits program through December 2009, otherwise scheduled to expire in March 2009. This program provides up to 33 weeks of extended benefits to those eligible.
• Increases unemployment benefits for 20 million jobless workers by $25 per week.

Provides a total of up to $7 billion for states implementing specific unemployment insurance reforms to improve access for low-wage, part-time and other workers who are often now excluded from the program.

Providing Health Insurance for Unemployed Workers

• To help people maintain their health coverage, the bill provides a 65% subsidy for COBRA premiums for up to 9 months for people who were involuntarily separated from their jobs between 9/1/08 and 12/31/09.  The assistance is limited to individuals with  incomes up to $125,000 and families with incomes up to $250,000.

COBRA currently provides temporary coverage for workers between jobs, but it is expensive.  A typical family premium on COBRA is over $1,000 a month. The Joint Committee on Taxation and CBO estimate 7 million people will receive assistance for the cost of their health insurance coverage.  

Increasing Food Stamp Benefits

• Provides $19.9 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 13 percent to help offset rising food costs for more than 31 million Americans, half of whom are children. 
• Invests $4.6 million in the Food Stamp Administration, to help improve services.

New Jersey residents will see a $297 million increase in benefits between 2009 and 2013.

Increasing Other Food Assistance

• Provides $150 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program to purchase commodities for food banks to refill emptying shelves.
• Provides $100 million for formula grants to states for elderly nutrition services, including Meals on Wheels and Congregate Meals.
• Provides $100 million for the School Lunch Program to provide schools with assistance in purchasing equipment, with priority for low-income schools.

New Jersey will receive $2.1 million for Emergency Food Assistance and $1.9 million for the School Lunch Program

Providing Other Key Investments

• Housing Assistance:  Increases support for several critical housing programs, including providing $2 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties and $1.5 billion for the Emergency Shelter Grant program to provide short-term rental assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services for families during this economic crisis.
• Trade Adjustment Assistance:  Extends all Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs through December 31, 2010.  Also significantly expands TAA programs, including extending TAA to trade-affected service sector workers and to workers affected by the offshoring or outsourcing of jobs to other countries, such as China and India.
• Assistance for Families:  Provides $2.7 billion in temporarily increased federal funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), including creating a temporary TANF Emergency Contingency Fund to provide states with relief during this recession.  
• Community Services Block Grant:  Provides $1 billion for grants to local communities to support employment, food, housing, and health care efforts serving those hardest hit by the recession.
• Community Development Block Grant:  Provides $1 billion for community and economic development projects including housing and services for those hit hard by tough economic times.