26. LCLAA RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF INCREASED FUNDING FOR

TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE (TAA) and WORKER RETRAINING PROGRAMS FOR WORKERS

DISPLACED BY TRADE

WHEREAS, millions of workers are suffering from the displacement effects of our trade policies and programs such as

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) are important, they are no substitute for good trade policies that create and retain

good jobs in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the need to help displaced workers exists independently of the debate over these trade policies; and

WHEREAS, the TAA program must honor the promise made to workers since 1962: that the federal government will

provide retraining, reemployment assistance, and income support to workers who lose their jobs due to federal trade

policies and these workers are forced to pay the price for federal policy decisions; and

WHEREAS, no worker should be denied TAA training due to insufficient funds and help for laid-off workers has always

been modest compared to the gains claimed for trade; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. currently spends less than $1 billion on TAA, while it is claimed that the U.S. economy gains $1

trillion a year from trade; and

WHEREAS, funding for TAA training should not be capped and the should be no reason why the commitment to trade-

impacted workers should be nullified simply because of flawed administration, the state in which the worker happens to

live, or when a layoff occurs; and

WHEREAS, the GAO has confirmed that the current method for distributing TAA training funds is deeply flawed

because the Department of Labor uses a formula that reflects past, not current, demand; and

WHEREAS, this basic flaw leads to two undesirable results: (1) some states experience funding shortfalls at the same

time that other states have unspent funds at the end of the fiscal year; and (2) many states seek to ration training services

to keep within the constraints of their base TAA allocation ­ shortchanging workers; and

WHEREAS, in the past couple of years we have seen states like Michigan and Illinois experience shortfalls in training

funds due to the extraordinary demand for help and Ohio has had to limit the duration of training due to funding

shortages; and

WHEREAS, the TAA program does not currently cover the thousands of technology and service sector workers who find

themselves jobless when their employers outsource their work overseas; and