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WASHINGTON - The House easily passed a bill Wednesday that would increase the number of North Carolinians eligible for job training and unemployment benefits because their jobs moved overseas.
The bill would expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to displaced workers in service industries and make it easier for any worker who loses a job to overseas competition to get education and employment help.
It passed 264-157 and now heads to the Senate where it is expected to come for a vote by the end of the year.
Since the program started in 2002, more people in North Carolina have participated than in any other state. Proponents say if the expansion is approved, displaced workers will find it easier to get benefits.
"The standards were so high you had to trace to a particular trade agreement that caused you to lose your job," said Rep. Mel Watt, D-12th district. "In North Carolina, we have had a domino effect of lost jobs because of trade agreements. Tracing it back to a direct connection is very difficult."
The Bush administration has threatened to veto the bill if it gets to the president's desk in the form passed by the House. The White House said the bill transforms a program to help workers displaced by trade agreements into "a universal income-support and training program."
"Just like everything Democrats have done in this session, they are creating one more expensive program after another," said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th district. "They're really trying to get back to a welfare state."
Republicans offered an amendment that would have scaled back the bill to make it acceptable to the president. It failed 196 to 226.
Rep. Howard Coble, R-6th district, voted for the GOP amendment and against the final bill.
"It's like a lot of other things up here," he said. "It looks and sounds good. But when you get to the bottom line, it's too costly. And if you vote against it, you're portrayed as being insensitive and uncaring."
The bill, he said, makes public employees eligible for benefits – and "They're not affected by trade layoffs."
But for other North Carolina Republicans representing districts hard hit by the closure of textile and furniture plants, the Democratic bill offered too much help to oppose.
Rep. Robin Hayes, R-8th, who represents Concord, said he had worked too hard to get provisions into the Democratic bill to vote against it.
"There are parts of this bill I don't care for," he said. "But it's such a crucial issue for my district for displaced textile and furniture workers that I felt compelled to support it."
And Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-10th, who calls himself the most conservative member of Congress, also voted for it. He said 35 percent of the North Carolinians applying for this assistance come from his district.
"Our region has been hit hard by the effects of bad trade deals," he said.
The program now is aimed at factory workers who have lost their jobs because of international trade agreements. In North Carolina, that means workers who used to manufacture textiles and furniture.
This year the state is slated to receive $17 million – or more than 10 percent of the $165 million allocated nationwide. More than 56,000 North Carolinians have taken advantage of the benefits since 2002. This year about 13,000 North Carolinians participate.
The program will expire at the end of this year unless it is renewed.
The bill would extend the program through 2012 and open up assistance to service workers, such as data processors who lost their jobs to India and telephone operators who now compete with Filipinos and Salvadorans.
In addition, it expands a health care tax credit and wage subsidy for workers who have lost their jobs and offers incentives to expand state unemployment insurance. The bill pays for the new benefits by delaying a corporate tax break for overseas income.
The bill would expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to displaced workers in service industries and make it easier for any worker who loses a job to overseas competition to get education and employment help.
It passed 264-157 and now heads to the Senate where it is expected to come for a vote by the end of the year.
Since the program started in 2002, more people in North Carolina have participated than in any other state. Proponents say if the expansion is approved, displaced workers will find it easier to get benefits.
"The standards were so high you had to trace to a particular trade agreement that caused you to lose your job," said Rep. Mel Watt, D-12th district. "In North Carolina, we have had a domino effect of lost jobs because of trade agreements. Tracing it back to a direct connection is very difficult."
The Bush administration has threatened to veto the bill if it gets to the president's desk in the form passed by the House. The White House said the bill transforms a program to help workers displaced by trade agreements into "a universal income-support and training program."
"Just like everything Democrats have done in this session, they are creating one more expensive program after another," said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th district. "They're really trying to get back to a welfare state."
Republicans offered an amendment that would have scaled back the bill to make it acceptable to the president. It failed 196 to 226.
Rep. Howard Coble, R-6th district, voted for the GOP amendment and against the final bill.
"It's like a lot of other things up here," he said. "It looks and sounds good. But when you get to the bottom line, it's too costly. And if you vote against it, you're portrayed as being insensitive and uncaring."
The bill, he said, makes public employees eligible for benefits – and "They're not affected by trade layoffs."
But for other North Carolina Republicans representing districts hard hit by the closure of textile and furniture plants, the Democratic bill offered too much help to oppose.
Rep. Robin Hayes, R-8th, who represents Concord, said he had worked too hard to get provisions into the Democratic bill to vote against it.
"There are parts of this bill I don't care for," he said. "But it's such a crucial issue for my district for displaced textile and furniture workers that I felt compelled to support it."
And Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-10th, who calls himself the most conservative member of Congress, also voted for it. He said 35 percent of the North Carolinians applying for this assistance come from his district.
"Our region has been hit hard by the effects of bad trade deals," he said.
The program now is aimed at factory workers who have lost their jobs because of international trade agreements. In North Carolina, that means workers who used to manufacture textiles and furniture.
This year the state is slated to receive $17 million – or more than 10 percent of the $165 million allocated nationwide. More than 56,000 North Carolinians have taken advantage of the benefits since 2002. This year about 13,000 North Carolinians participate.
The program will expire at the end of this year unless it is renewed.
The bill would extend the program through 2012 and open up assistance to service workers, such as data processors who lost their jobs to India and telephone operators who now compete with Filipinos and Salvadorans.
In addition, it expands a health care tax credit and wage subsidy for workers who have lost their jobs and offers incentives to expand state unemployment insurance. The bill pays for the new benefits by delaying a corporate tax break for overseas income.