Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for Workers Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1759, the Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for Workers Act, also known as the BRIDGE for Workers Act, which I have worked on with my colleagues, Representative Murphy and Representative LaHood.
This legislation builds upon the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, where we made a significant step forward in helping those unemployed, through no fault of their own, by pairing unemployment benefits with services.
Over the last few decades, there has been a focus on automation that has removed all human interaction from the benefit claims process. Beneficiaries have become nothing more than a number entered into a spreadsheet or into a computer database.
During the last recession, we saw that merely providing 99 weeks of unemployment benefits was not enough to help individuals return to the workforce. That is why, in 2012, we offered reemployment services and eligibility assessments, known as RESEAs, to the long-term unemployed based on successful State efforts to engage UI beneficiaries.
Since the recession, many States have rebranded unemployment to reemployment, and focused on efforts to promote rapid reemployment, because it is better for workers, their families, and an economy where we have 1 million more job openings than we have employed.
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 provides States with funding certainty, so they can invest in these services and serve greater numbers of workers. That is why H.R. 1759 is so important. It makes permanent a technical correction first made in FY 2019 appropriations.
This bill clarifies that reemployment services and eligibility assessments shall promote quicker reemployment to shorten benefit durations for all unemployment insurance claimants, not just those likely to exhaust unemployment benefits.
In my home State of Indiana, RESEA was redesigned in 2016 to assist UI claimants through early intervention to aid in a quicker return to meaningful employment and eliminate UI fraud.
Indiana's RESEA program is two-fold. The initial RESEA expects beneficiaries to make an in-person visit to a WorkOne Center on approximately the sixth week of benefits. During that visit, they attend an orientation to learn more about these services, and then meet with a RESEA counselor for a one-on-one assessment interview to develop an individual reemployment plan. That plan may include workshops to improve job search or interviewing skills, or referrals to other supports or services beyond the UI agency.
Any of the RESEA initial participants who are still collecting at the 15th week of their UI claim are contacted for reengagement as part of the subsequent RESEA program. These long-term claimants are brought in for a one-on-one reassessment interview to determine if additional barriers to reemployment are present. At any point in the process where it becomes apparent that additional, more intensive services are needed, the customer then moves into the workforce system to gain more skills.
RESEAS are a valuable reemployment tool for those who have lost their job, through no fault of their own.
Again, I urge support of H.R. 1759, and I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, as you have heard today, the ability to pair benefits with services can have a profound effect on the lives of workers and their families. At a time with more than a million more jobs than we actually have unemployed, this effort is especially critical. This bill gives States the flexibility they need to make reemployment services a great success.
Again, I urge support of H.R. 1759, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source