Bridge To Work: Obama's Plan For Long-Term Unemployed

WASHINGTON -- President Obama announced Thursday evening a plan to put the long-term jobless back to work by encouraging states to adopt "Bridge to Work" programs that would let businesses try out workers without having to pay them.

The scheme, which would only be open to workers receiving federal unemployment benefits, would be modeled mainly on a Georgia program designed to reduce hiring costs and make it easier for the jobless to get back to work. The program, called Georgia Works, is voluntary for workers and employers and allows businesses to train workers for eight weeks with no obligation to pay or hire.

"We have to do more to help the long-term unemployed in their search for work," President Obama said while addressing a joint session of Congress. "This jobs plan builds on a program in Georgia that several Republican leaders have highlighted, where people who collect unemployment insurance participate in temporary work as a way to build their skills while they look for a permanent job."

Labor advocates have warned the White House to stay away from Georgia Works, complaining that it is exploitive and possibly illegal. A senior administration official said the White House is sensitive to those concerns. "We have made it very clear that states must ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Bridge to Work programs would be different from Georgia Works in several ways. Under the Obama proposal, states would be required to ensure participants earn no less than the minimum wage. So if a jobless worker's unemployment insurance benefit amounted to less than the minimum wage, states would have to boost the benefit.

Bridge to Work programs would only be open to jobless workers who've exhausted the standard 26 weeks of state-funded benefits and become eligible for the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which provides up to 53 additional weeks of aid. The EUC program is set to expire in January; the administration is pushing for Congress to reauthorize it through 2012 as part of the "American Jobs Act," which would include funding for Bridge to Work and dozens of other initiatives.

Republicans controlling the House of Representatives have signaled support for a program modeled on Georgia Works, but they've also said they'd oppose another reauthorization of federal unemployment benefits if the cost added to the federal budget deficit.

"If the millions of unemployed Americans stopped getting this insurance, and stopped using that money for basic necessities, it would be a devastating blow to this economy," Obama said. "Democrats and Republicans in this Chamber have supported unemployment insurance plenty of times in the past. At this time of prolonged hardship, you should pass it again -– right away."

Money for states to administer Bridge to Work programs would come from a $4 billion "Reemployment NOW Fund" that would also support a range of reforms, including wage insurance, startup assistance, improved reemployment services, and work-sharing.

There isn't a ton of data on Georgia Works or similar programs in other states. But there's plenty of data testifying to the magnitude of the long-term unemployment crisis: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6 million people have been out of work for six months or longer as of August, and 2 million have been out of work for longer than 99 weeks -- the cutoff point for federal jobless benefits in the hardest-hit states.

States that decided to adopt Bridge to Work initiatives would have some flexibility. Training periods could last as long as eight weeks or be as short as two weeks. Businesses could train participants for up to 38 hours a week (Georgia Works limits training to 24 hours a week). States could also require participating employers to pay a portion of workers' earnings.

"We're going to deem these [Emergency Unemployment Compensation] benefits wages and provide support for states to top up benefits if necessary to comply with the minimum wage," the official said. "If states want to structure programs so employers have skin in the game, we’re not going to stop them."

Participants in the program will be covered by workers' compensation laws. As the FLSA requires, states will be required to prevent businesses from using trainees instead of hiring new workers, and businesses will not be able to use Bridge to Work participants if a strike is in effect or if doing so would violate a collective bargaining agreement.

This story has been updated to include remarks from President Obama.

Arthur Delaney is the author of "A People's History of the Great Recession," HuffPost's first e-book.

Comments

[bcarb]

08:32 PM on 10/02/2011

I do think stopping tax breaks for corporations that send jobs overseas would create jobs here.

[blueagle8u]

01:55 AM on 09/17/2011

Is it just me or do you get a horrible feeling that MOST employers are just going to use MOST of these people as FREE TEMPS?????

[pat2 718]

02:36 AM on 09/17/2011

Bingo!

[bcarb]

08:31 PM on 10/02/2011

But sometimes they WILL hire the person.

[Johny Appalachia]

08:43 AM on 09/14/2011

That is the man I could see as a Senator, based on what was written about him. I told my wife, I would vote for him, for President. I was his greatest fan, and still am. The man who spoke on TV is the man I want in that office. This feeling might reflect the feelings of many.
We voted for Obama and put him in office. We need to give him a chance, but, there are still problems with the program. Money is still doled out to the affluent and instead of funneling money where it is needed it becomes a seive in Republican hands.
We need to give our legislators a fifty percent pay cut, and let them use the same health insurance as the poor. They may began to understand our delima.

[bcarb]

08:37 PM on 10/02/2011

Amen.
When some of my friends, all of which have jobs, talk about the cost of extending unemplyment, etc., I just remind them of the cost of oil subsidies and no bid-Halibuton contracts.

[Arts4u]

08:54 PM on 09/11/2011

I'm honestly not convinced that this will actually achieve anything.

It is suggested that the majority of longer-term unemployed are, in fact, outdated in their skills. Many of the longer-term unemployed are highly skilled mid-career workers who were eliminated because they earned more than their entry-level co-workers or their industry was badly affected in the downturn - i.e. construction, architects/engineers, interior architects, sales/marketing people who work in home product sales, etc. as one example. I am familiar with this industry so I highlight this one, though I am sure that there is a multitude of other career paths which have been decimated by this downturn.

Their talents are not obsolete. And I do not believe that it makes sense to take those people and have them work for 8 weeks in another industry, when their own skills are strong.

What kinds of industries would participate in this suggested program? Local small businesses, large corporations? Who exactly?

[Johny Appalachia]

08:56 AM on 09/14/2011

If you look around the world, every country is a debter nation, thanks to our modernistic and corporate world. Our governor in Michigan made a great speach last night. He advertised for welders, every welder can have a job he said. Who do we owe money to?
The idea of international debt was a business decision. We owe money to corporations who farm our food, own our homes, our stores and everything. We need to audit our government, to see where our tax dollars have gone. We need truth and transparancy in government.

[lodkia]

12:58 PM on 09/11/2011

What President Obama and some people don't understand is that some people already participate in a bridge to work program of their own accord! Please understand that even if it is only a part-time, seasonal job and even if they are underemployed; they did it on their own which wasn't easy either! Why do you now want to come up with a Jobs plan when you had none! Support those companies and employees who on their own accord found something and help them to spur the economy by increased earnings or hours is my idea. This will have an immediate impact on spending!

[Arts4u]

08:55 PM on 09/11/2011

You could say the same thing about the 99'ers. There are no provisions for them either.

[Arts4u]

08:57 PM on 09/11/2011

Those people who are working in retail, big-box retailers, fast-food gigs are better off going back to school for at least a bachelors degree and aim higher. The corporations, as well as the smaller companies have now become almost dependent on part-time workers. The same with the use of interns, free-lance consultants and contract workers, as well as temps.

[Johny Appalachia]

09:00 AM on 09/14/2011

You make a good point, except that many people working in FF places have degrees already. We need to put people back to work. Maybe we need four and five day work weeks, with a maximum week of 40 hours.

[lodkia]

12:54 PM on 09/11/2011

I think this Jobs plan is simply skewing the jobs picture; don't ask people who are trying to help themselves to compete with programs; this is a no win situation for the people who are trying to help themselves. You aren't helping any; at least don't make it worse for them!

[finabiscotti]

11:02 AM on 09/11/2011

Obama destroys JOBS with his (intended) Failed economic policies and Hostile Government Takeovers - destroying the economy -
and now wants everyone to accept his fictitious JOBS PLAN.

Obama is a MADMAN operating w his CZAR PALOOZA as his SHADOW GOVERNMENT of deranged individuals - as anti-capitalists - who have never worked in the private sector.

Obama should turn to drinking - like his father.

[Arts4u]

08:59 PM on 09/11/2011

In case you haven't noticed, Capitalism has done a really good job of destroying the economy and jobs over the last decade... all by itself.

[fortressfountain]

10:21 AM on 09/11/2011

Once again if the problem is lack of skills-what kinds of jobs are being provided here? Most of the time the gov. only funds jobs of low skill and low wages. So how does this solve a problem?
Most people can find some kind of job as this, but do not want to work for free.
This has to be addressed. Low wage=negative income in the USA. None will be willing to take a pay-day loan or credit card to support the "right to work."
People are not dumb-why not just give them the high paid executive positions that ruined the global economy.
If this is skill and talent-I would sure hate to see what unskilled means.

[apogee2perogee]

10:26 AM on 09/11/2011

There are other parts of the program that involve other industry sectors and other employee sectors. It was designed to have balance across sectors and to make sure and address those sectors most hurt by the recession.

All those construction jobs in the infrastructure portion of the proposal are skilled jobs, with good wages, and involve small regional businesses, not multinationals.

[sculptor]

02:16 AM on 09/11/2011

I think that the bridge to work will be meaningless. The single biggest problem we face for the long term is the loss of critical employee skills. There are people out there that can't possibly be "trained" in 8 weeks and when the economy comes back to the point where their contribution to the labor force will be critical, they will have long lost these skills. These people need longer periods of meaningful involvement and at higher wages than minimum wage. I say six months at twice minimum wage. We need to identity the critical sectors and job categories and make it happen or else we'll never stand a chance at a recovery.

[finabiscotti]

11:05 AM on 09/11/2011

Under the guise of putting the unemploled to work, Obama is trying to force States to accept his Jobs Plan - to report all work activities to his Shadow Government - so that he can subvert States' rights - and control The United States of America - as a Dictator.

[sculptor]

05:29 PM on 09/11/2011

Ha ha very funny... NOT!

You can't be serious. He's a very ambitious and competitive person but that doesn't make him the kind of thug that would tarnish our country like that. I think there are two character traits that are necessary for a dictator which are greed and arrogance. I see neither of them present in his public or private persona. I'd be much more frightened about the fundamentalists in the Republican camp because history has taught use that religious fundamentalism goes hand in hand with authoritarianism

[Arts4u]

09:01 PM on 09/11/2011

Won't even bother to take on that one.... just a tad too Rush-like to even try.

[markgoode]

09:58 AM on 09/10/2011

Has everyone seen this?

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/08/news/economy/Obama_unemployment_benefits/index.htm

Apparently, the "georgia works" adaptation is only one small part of the President's jobs plan.

[finabiscotti]

10:20 AM on 09/11/2011

"The proposals, part of a $447 billion American Jobs Act, now move to Congress, which has been loathe to pass any stimulus bills. Though the president promised it would all be paid for, he did not specify how it would be done."

[loki]

01:50 AM on 09/10/2011

Bridge to Nowhere. Except maybe the middle of the ocean for all the lemmings to jump from.

Its not a dem or repub thing, its a corpocracy thing.

[Patriot86]

11:55 PM on 09/09/2011

It is completely unfair to force people to spend the pittance they get paid on unemployment on gas to drive back and forth to work at jobs that won't pay them a dime...and what if the car breaks down? This cost the unemployed person money they don't have and provides slaves for business...Obama is acting like a Republican and this will cost him the election if he keeps it up.

[loki]

01:51 AM on 09/10/2011

this is create the slave labor that the corporations and super rich so dearly want us to become.

[Patriot86]

06:35 PM on 09/11/2011

I agree.

[markgoode]

09:33 AM on 09/10/2011

The only way this voluntary program will work (btw no one would be "forced") is if the employer must keep the intern for at least a year, and if the participating jobless person gets to write off at least some of the costs of transportation and childcare on their 1040A. This 2-8 weeks nonsense is ridiculous.

[Patriot86]

04:38 PM on 09/11/2011

A write offis no good if you don't have the money upfront...I do agree with the rest of it...but business might just use free labor and not hire.

[msjimmied]

11:35 PM on 09/09/2011

Millions are out of work, even if this works, it's barely a band aid. We need more and better ideas.

[World Citizen]

04:20 AM on 09/10/2011

better idea is to use those funds to retrain people that are earning unemployment. another idea is to start policing H1B and other visa program abuses that bring in foreign workers from India and heavily penalize those companies. use the penalties to retrain whoever wants to get retrained. This was supposedly the purpose of the H1B fund from the very beginning. I guess those funds just paid the administration and the money was never put to use to retrain people.

[Olderandwiser55]

11:19 PM on 09/11/2011

This is just a small part of the plan. The whole plan-is a great plan.

[phydeaux2000]

07:55 PM on 09/09/2011

Everyone has to have some degree of personal responsibility in this game. The unemployment numbers for someone with college education is less than half of what high school graduate unemploymet is. And the rate is more than 3 times if you do not have a high school educatltion, WHICH IS FREE!!!! Why should I have to pay more in taxes than you who have made bad life decisions in not finishing high school? Today, there are absbolutely no free lunches for you guys after you voluntarilary decide to drop out of high school. Give me a break. Suffer all of your future lives from the bad decisions YOU made to drop out of high school!!!!!

[Patriot86]

11:57 PM on 09/09/2011

Only because recent college graduates are not counted and people who have exhausted benefits are not counted...there are tons of college educated people out of work who are not counted...the idea that you can do everything right and thus be just fine is BS...sincerely hope you find out it really works...by a stint of unemployment...I went through it and I am not so quick to judge anymore.

[fearlessfaith]

01:51 AM on 09/10/2011

Oh, I get it.

So,you misspell "educatltio­n" "unemployme­t" "voluntaril­ary" "absbolutel­y" just for emphasis right? That's funny.

Your assumptions are:
1.People do not finish high school because of "bad life decisions"
2.People do not finish high school because "voluntaril­ary decide to drop out"

And so you conclude: "Why should I have to pay more in taxes than you who have made bad life decisions in not finishing high school?"

Maybe in the world that you live in, choices 1 and 2 are the only reasons people drop out of high school. Where did you find the research? Did they give any other reasons for why people may not finish high school ( domestic violence, etc.)?

College educated individuals are not immune from being unemployed. Thus, they too, make up part of the unemployment statistics.

Does that mean you are willing "to pay more in taxes" for unemployed college grads, because, of course, they made a "good" decision to finish high school?

Your last comment is, the saddest:
"Suffer all of your future lives from the bad decisions YOU made to drop out of high school!!!!­!"

How does it feel to kick people while they are struggling to make it to the next hour or minute? How does it feel to stand on the shore strapped in a life-jacket, with an extra in hand, watching as a person drowns reaching out for you?

[65-Still Alive]

05:52 PM on 09/09/2011

I TOOK MY MADE IN CHINA DESK CHAIR TO THE DUMP TODAY-Less than two years ago I purchased a desk chair for $129.99 plus sales tax. In less than two years the fabric ripped in a number of places and three of the six wheels fell off and could not be repaired. The desk chair that I had before this one was Made In The U.S.A., lasted for twelve years and cost $350.00.
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET IT ??????

[ILoveGreatDanes]

06:01 PM on 09/09/2011

Never buy Wal Mart men's socks either. I got some for my husband, the plain black ankle kind. It's virtually impossible to find anything made in the USA anymore. He got them home and ripped a hole in the heel the moment he put on the first pair. Back to the long Wal Mart return line I went. I had that same problem with their cargo jeans, too. He didn't even get to wear them to work one time.

[markgoode]

06:15 PM on 09/09/2011

I bought bookshelves made in China, and all of them were broken. It took three sets to make one good bookcase, and I returned the rest of the broken pieces and got my money back for 2 sets. Home Depot. It sure would have been nice if Obama's speech had been a Buy American speech.

[Charles Queen]

06:41 PM on 09/09/2011

I totaly agree with you on this completely.Unless we start making it here and buying it here from American run company's using American workers we are not going to get anywhere any time soon