Donnelly Supports Extension of Program for Workers Who Lost Jobs Due to Foreign Trade

Press Release

U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly today announced his support for a bill that would reauthorize and expand Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a program that provides benefits to eligible workers who lost their jobs due to the adverse effects of foreign trade. The current funding for the TAA program is set to expire near the end of 2015. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2015 would reauthorize through 2020 a program that has benefited more than 20,000 Hoosiers in recent years.

Donnelly said, "Hoosier workers are among the best in the world, yet many of them have been hurt in recent years as a result of unfair trade policies. TAA provides valuable resources to help millions of Americans get back on their feet after losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Reauthorization of this crucial program will ensure that Hoosier and American workers continue to receive job assistance as they seek new employment. I am proud to support this bipartisan legislation to help American workers."

TAA benefits include a variety of services designed to assist workers in getting back to work. Benefits include training subsidies, career counseling, job search assistance, and relocation allowances. The reauthorization also continues the Trade Readjustment Allowance to provide income support to workers who have exhausted their unemployment insurance and wage insurance to compensate workers age 50 and over with 50% of the difference in the wages they were earning and the lower wage they earn after finding a new job. In addition, the bill includes extensions of TAA for Firms, TAA for Community Colleges and Career Training and the Health Coverage Tax Credit.

Source