You Did It! Congress Passes Payroll Tax Cut Without UI Education Requirements

http://blog.ncladvocacy.org/feed/

Tuesday, 22 of May of 2012

The President’s budget calls for increased investments in promising adult education and workforce partnerships, but makes slight reductions in funding for adult education in states. What do you think?
- a) It’s a good idea to build these partnerships, but it should only use existing funding resources.
- b) It’s a good idea to build these partnerships, but adult ed state grants need increased funding.
- c) It seems contradictory to call for increased investments in these partnerships, but then to slightly decrease funding for education programs.
- Other
View Results
Loading ...

Polls Archive

You Did It! Congress Passes Payroll Tax Cut Without UI Education Requirements

Date: February 17, 2012

—Campaign for a Fair Unemployment Insurance Extension

Congress passed the $143B payroll tax holiday compromise today, (293-132 in the House; 60-36 in the Senate), extending a tax cut for millions of Americans and jobless benefits through the end of the year.

The bill did not include education requirements which would have denied unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to any worker who lacks a high school diploma or its equivalent and is not enrolled in classes to earn one—regardless of how long the person worked or whether he or she has access to adult education.

You did it! You helped to keep the UI extension focused on what it was intended for—to help those who have lost work through no fault of their own maintain their benefits with few strings attached. The measure will now go to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The National Coalition for Literacy believes that all eligible workers should receive UI regardless of their education level. While policies should recognize the importance of adult literacy and strive to increase access to adult education and family literacy programs, a GED requirement in a UI extension does not increase access; it only creates a much greater demand without providing the resources needed to meet the increased demand.

The next step is to work with legislators who supported this requirement—and others—to use the best policy levers for raising the priority of adult education and literacy in our country. We will work with Congress and the Administration to increase access to adult literacy programs—through the Administration’s 2020 college graduate goal, the budget and appropriations process, and the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). WIA is the federal legislation that provides for adult education and literacy services but Congress hasn’t changed it since 1998.

Thank you to those who spoke out with NCL, including our friends at CLASP, Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE), Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL), D.C. LEARNs, ProLiteracy, Washington Partners, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN), the National Skills Coalition (NSC), the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE), and many advocates, friends, and followers.

Get the latest adult education and literacy news (email, text, Facebook, Twitter), share your views, and keep up the good work.

Together we can and do make a difference every day. Thanks once again for your role in that.

NCL’s Advocacy Team

ncl@ncladvocacy.org