Washington, D.C. – The House Ways and Means Committee passed Congressman Darin LaHood's (IL-16) bipartisan Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment (BRIDGE) for Workers Act this week, which would give states greater flexibility in administering existing unemployment benefits to help more Americans find good-paying jobs. LaHood, who is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare, introduced the BRIDGE for Workers Act with Subcommittee Ranking Member Danny Davis (D-IL).
You can view Rep. LaHood's remarks at the mark up HERE.
"The United States currently has 1.5 unfilled jobs for every unemployed worker, which underscores the need for Congress to incentivize individuals to get back into the workforce," said Rep. LaHood. "The BRIDGE for Workers Act provides more flexibility to the states and gives individuals on unemployment greater access to workforce development tools, which will strengthen our communities and our economy. I am proud to work with my colleague from Chicago, Ranking Member Davis, on this important issue and urge the full House to swiftly pass our bill."
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awards annual Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) grants to states and territories providing individual reemployment services for Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants. Reemployment services give workers who might otherwise struggle to find new jobs the tools that they need to get back to work and reduce the number of weeks that UI claimants receive unemployment benefits.
Under current law, however, states can only use their federal grants to assist workers who are “most likely to exhaust their unemployment benefits.” This unnecessary restriction prevents many unemployed workers from getting valuable assistance. The BRIDGE for Workers Act would remove this restriction and allow states to use their allocated funding to provide support to any individual receiving unemployment benefits, as long as the state believes these services would help them return to work more quickly.
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