Job Subsidies Providing Help to Private Side

[ProSense]

Job Subsidies Providing Help to Private Side

By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Published: July 28, 2010

CHICAGO — States are putting hundreds of thousands of people directly into jobs through programs reminiscent of the more ambitious work projects of the Great Depression.

But the new efforts have a twist: While the wages are being paid by the government, most of the participants are working for private companies.

The opportunity to simultaneously benefit struggling workers and small businesses has helped these job subsidies gain support from liberals and conservatives. Congress is now considering whether to extend the subsidy, which would expire in September, for an additional year. A House vote is expected on Thursday or Friday.

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About 247,000 workers will have been placed in these subsidized jobs by the end of September, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research organization. The jobs cover everything from assembly-line work to white-collar positions like business development, and typically pay $8 to $15 an hour, according to LaDonna Pavetti, a director at the center. There are exceptions: San Francisco, for example, pays up to $74,000 in annual salary, which employers can also supplement with additional pay.

So far just over a billion dollars has been approved to create subsidized employment programs in 36 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The biggest year-round program is run by Illinois, which has put 22,000 workers in subsidized jobs (and 5,000 in subsidized summer youth jobs) and has 30,000 people on its waiting list.

Most states pay 100 percent of workers’ wages up to a certain point. To qualify for the subsidy, workers must have a low household income. They must also have minor children, or be under age 21 themselves. Employers seem to hear about the programs largely through word of mouth, and some states actively help match eligible workers with companies.

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Imagine what another few billion dollars more could do.

[jwirr]

1. That sounds like the old CETA program. It was meant to create jobs

but hardly ever created a lasting job. They hired you for about 6 months and when your subsidy ran out they found a way to fire you. The only secure jobs were CETA administration workers.

[ProSense]

3. This is

just one program, and frankly, given that it can create hundreds of thousands of jobs, even if only for a year, the cost of a few billion dollars is worth it. They should fully fund it at $5 billion, and even consider doubling that amount.

[jwirr]

9. I agree that it should be funded - was just saying that we had had

a program like this before.

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd. Hundreds of thousands? Where do I sign up?

I'd take one of those jobs. Hell, I'm applying for p/t jobs now, anything that might bring some $ in sounds great to me, and adds to the resume.

[ProSense]

4. And that's with only

$1 billion approved. They need to double the original $5 billion and go for it. This could create a couple of million jobs.

[babylonsister]

5. From your lips... but then again, who will approve this? NOT

the usual obstructionist suspects.

[ProSense]

6. The House is voting tomorrow or Friday.

We'll see.

[babylonsister]

7. Well, they're wringing their hand about tax cuts to the rich, so

I don't have a whole lot of faith.

[ProSense]

8. I really wonder how long the

Republicans plan to block things, paving the way to financial ruin for many Americans?

They can't keep this up forever. Can they?

[babylonsister]

10. Scary, isn't it. Yes they can, and that seems to be their

plan. I haven't heard of one rethug proposing anything novel or positive.

:scared:

Why anyone continues to support them is a true mystery.

[ProSense]

11. Bob Herbert wrote a piece on this program and so did Jared Berstein

That was a couple of weeks ago.

They're voting tomorrow and those two articles have been ignored. People ask what the administration is trying to do to create jobs, but no one is really interested.

[babylonsister]

12. Thank you. That's why we are worthy. We report the

important stuff, at least here.

I wish people cared more. I wished the m$m cared, too. We're talking about Herbert, a renowned journalist, and Bernstein, Biden's guy. You'd think people would give a......

[dkf]

13. Shouldn't we be doing this for the long term unemployed?

And wouldn't this be perfect as assistance to our schools?

[ProSense]

14. Yes,

we should be doing everything possible. The president was in NJ making the case for small business stimulus.

This program is up and running and working.

[babylonsister]

15. Do tell us all why this is bad news-thanks. I would love to know. nt

[ProSense]

16. Obviously, anything that's about creating jobs isn't important. n/t