October 25, 2007

House Ways and Means Committee passes Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation

House Ways and Means Committee passes Trade Adjustment Assistance legislation
The House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, October 24, approved legislation that would drastically expand Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) coverage within the American workforce. The bill -- H.R. 3029 -- was introduced Monday, October 22 by Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY). Key among the bill's reforms to the TAA program is the expansion to service workers. The bill would cover service sector employers in a firm that experienced significant layoffs due to outsourcing or trade. The Secretary of Labor would be given the authority to issue industry-wide certification for TAA under the new law. Under current law, TAA certification is made only on a firm-by-firm basis, which Rangel argues is often inequitable in the program's assistance.

The new legislation would also increase the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) subsidy to 85 percent from its current 65 percent level, and would identify 24 unique "redevelopment" zones across the country that are most affected by trade and outsourcing and make them eligible for a Work Opportunity Tax Credit and some $3.6 billion in tax credits to build up their manufacturing infrastructures.

Several of the bill's provisions drew heated criticism by Committee Republicans, most notably the increase in funding for employment training. Under the legislation, funding for training would triple from $220 million to $660 million by 2010. Republicans argued that states already have sufficient training funding that is left unused and rejected the lack of government oversight on the increased funding.