WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Thom Tillis and his colleagues recently introduced the Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment (BRIDGE) for Workers Act, legislation that would give states more flexibility in administering existing reemployment benefits to help more Americans find good-paying jobs.
“Expanding access to reemployment services like financial literacy classes and resume-building workshops will give unemployed Americans a competitive edge in our ever-changing job market,” said Senator Tillis. “This legislation makes critical resources available to those looking for work so more Americans can find reliable, good-paying jobs.”
Background:
Expanding access to reemployment services – which include job search assistance, employability assessment, job matching, financial literacy services, and assistance with resume writing and interviewing – has proven highly successful. Early access to these services reduces the duration of laid-off workers’ unemployment, strengthening both the economic security of working families and the solvency of state unemployment trust funds.
The U.S. Department of Labor awards annual grants to states and territories so they can provide reemployment services to unemployment claimants and help them find work. Under current law, however, states can only use their federal grants to assist workers who are expected to exhaust their unemployment benefits before they find work. 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 grants 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. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that new investments in reemployment services scheduled over the next decade would reduce the budget deficit by $600 million between 2022 and 2027.
The legislation is endorsed by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, the nonpartisan national organization representing all 50 state workforce agencies, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
Full text of the bill can be found HERE.
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