July 21,2005

Baucus Introduces Bill To Assist Displaced Workers

New Legislation Streamlines TAA Benefit Process

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) U.S. Senator Max Baucus introduced the Trade Adjustment Assistance(TAA) for Industries Act giving workers displaced by trade easier access to TAA benefits. SenatorColeman (R-MN) co-sponsored the legislation.

Today’s legislation would make the process of applying for benefits more efficient by allowing a single eligibility determination to cover workers in a particular industry on a nationwidebasis. Under current law, TAA petitions have to be filed and reviewed on a plant-by-plant basis,which is inefficient and often leads to inconsistent results. That is why today some workers wholose their jobs in industries such as textiles, small electronics, and lumber get the TAA benefitsthey deserve, while others just down the street may not.

“Maintaining a well-trained workforce is key to our nation’s long-term competitivenessand economic health,” Baucus said. “TAA is a safety net catching those few who lose out fromour trade policy choices. This legislation will cut through the red tape so deserving workers faceless uncertainty and can be enrolled and retrained sooner.”

For more than 40 years, TAA has been providing retraining, income support, and otherbenefits to workers who lose their jobs due to trade. In the Trade Act of 2002, Baucus spearheaded the most comprehensive expansion and overhaul of the TAA program since 1974.“The TAA program is a lifeline,” Baucus said. “Participating workers in my home state ofMontana tell me that TAA has made it possible for them to make a new start. Unfortunately, somein Montana and across the nation lose out because of the inconsistent, case-by-case way benefitdecisions are made today. That is just not right.”

The bill makes industry-wide TAA certification automatic in cases where the President, theInternational Trade Commission, or another qualified federal agency has already determined thatimports are having an injurious effect.

For example, if a group of workers loses their jobs in an industry covered by a tradesafeguard or an antidumping or countervailing duty order, within a set period of time, they do notneed to file a petition for TAA. Instead, they can proceed directly to the second step ofdemonstrating their individual eligibility and enrolling through the one-stop center in their state.Even where there is no trade remedy, the bill streamlines the process by permitting theSecretary of Labor to make her eligibility determination on an industry-wide basis in cases whereshe determines that a plant-by-plant approach is not appropriate.

This includes cases where the Secretary has received three or more TAA petitions fromworkers at different plants in the same industry within a 6 month period. It would also includecases where the Senate Finance Committee or the House Ways and Means Committee passes aresolution requesting an industry-wide investigation. In these cases, the Secretary may certifyworkers in an entire industry if she determines that workers across the nation are losing their jobsbecause of international trade.

“We owe our trade-affected workers a fair chance to train for the jobs of the future and getback into the workforce,” Baucus said. “We should be doing everything we can to ensure thatTAA benefits reach every qualified worker who needs them. This legislation will benefit workersin Montana’s hard-hit lumber industry and other workers nationwide. I plan to press hard to getthese TAA improvements enacted into law.”