Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am joined by Senators Harkin and Whitehouse in introducing the Layoff Prevention Extension Act of 2014. This bill would extend the financing and grant provisions for the work sharing initiative I authored and worked to include as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. Since becoming law, work sharing has helped save over 110,000 jobs, including 1,200 jobs in my State of Rhode Island, according to the Department of Labor. It has saved States $225 million by reimbursing them for work sharing benefits they paid out to workers--benefits that helped keep people on the job as employees and employers elected to reduce hours across the board instead of laying workers off. Before my bill became law only a handful of States had work sharing programs. By tilting the incentives away from layoffs and toward work sharing a majority of states now have laws on their books. However, the 100 percent Federal financing of these work sharing benefits will expire in the summer of 2015 and the $100 million in implementation grants by the end of this year. My bill would extend both of these deadlines by one year so States with existing work sharing programs and those that are looking to enact a program can qualify for Federal support.…”