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House approves job grant expansion Thursday, Sep 22, 2005 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- The House this week approved legislation expanding a federal emergency job-creation program aimed at helping Hurricane Katrina evacuees including those in Arkansas. The program currently provides displaced workers with temporary employment and job training to assist in disaster-relief efforts. The bill, which passed the House unanimously Tuesday, would allow people who were unemployed at the time of the hurricane to qualify for funding and would subsidize temporary public-sector employment in work other than recovery efforts. The legislation "provides greater flexibility in the National Emergency Grant program to bring more immediate assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, who voted for the bill. "It cuts through the red tape," he added. The grants also could be used to offer need-related payments to workers who have exhausted or did not qualify for unemployment compensation benefits. The bill also would allow the labor secretary to extend disaster-relief employment assistance an additional six months beyond the six months allowed under current law. "This bill makes common-sense changes that provide new flexibility and allow our states to respond immediately to the extreme needs created by this disaster," Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., who introduced the bill, said in a statement. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., has a companion bill. The Labor Department on Tuesday awarded Arkansas $3 million through the program, 10 percent of the $30 million the state had requested. Arkansas lawmakers have requested the remainder of the funds. Last week, state leaders were told the Labor Department ran out of funds in the program because $191.1 million had been distributed to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. Emily Stover DeRocco, assistant secretary at the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration, told Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., on Tuesday that another $80 million would be available starting Oct. 1, the next fiscal quarter, Pryor said. "There will be money," Pryor said. "The question is how much is Arkansas going to get." -- 30 -- |
