WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today hailed the final economic plan agreed to by House and Senate negotiators. Among other things, the final agreement will provide vital relief to states – including funds that will create jobs by modernizing schools and colleges – to help stave off layoffs, and will help students struggling to pay for college by boosting the Pell Grant scholarship by $500.
“This final plan is a very good deal for our economy, our workers, and
our students. A plan of this size was not easy to navigate, and it is
not perfect. But I believe it’s the best possible plan that could be
reached swiftly, under challenging circumstances.
“What’s important is that this plan will go a long way toward providing relief to millions of Americans whose economic pain is worsening by the day; to workers who need a job; to schools that are in desperate need of repairs and resources; and to children who need a good education now more than ever.
“Our plan will provide urgent aid to states to save and create jobs, by staving off layoffs of teachers, nurses, librarians, janitors and countless other professions. It allows states to invest in renovating, repairing and modernizing schools and colleges – a big win for Americans who need a job and students who need 21st century classrooms. Fixing our schools is not a luxury – it is an economic and educational necessity.
“Separately, our plan will also give direct, rapid aid to school districts to further prevent staff and program cuts. In the process, it includes reasonable reforms to get us on track toward building the world-class education system our economy needs and our children deserve.
“This plan will also provide much-needed help for low- and middle-income students while strengthening local economies. By increasing the Pell Grant scholarship by $500 and providing a $2500 tuition tax credit for middle-class families, we can expand college access and help colleges continue to generate jobs, revenue, and other economic benefits for local.
“For workers who have been laid off, our plan will help train and prepare them for green jobs and other 21st century jobs – creating the highly-skilled, competitive workforce our economy will need as it recovers. And for the millions of Americans that have lost their health care coverage along with their jobs, our plan will help both recently-laid off and older workers stay covered by expanding their access to affordable health insurance.
“As President Obama has said, this plan will not turn our economy around overnight, and it won’t solve every problem we face. But it is an enormous step toward our goal of saving and creating millions of jobs and getting our economy moving forward again. It’s time to give Americans the relief – and hope – they’ve been waiting for.”
BACKGROUND
The final agreement reached by House and Senate negotiators includes:
Save and Create Jobs, Prevent Education Cuts
Immediate Aid to Make College More Affordable
Helping workers find jobs
Affordable Health Care for Unemployed Workers
“What’s important is that this plan will go a long way toward providing relief to millions of Americans whose economic pain is worsening by the day; to workers who need a job; to schools that are in desperate need of repairs and resources; and to children who need a good education now more than ever.
“Our plan will provide urgent aid to states to save and create jobs, by staving off layoffs of teachers, nurses, librarians, janitors and countless other professions. It allows states to invest in renovating, repairing and modernizing schools and colleges – a big win for Americans who need a job and students who need 21st century classrooms. Fixing our schools is not a luxury – it is an economic and educational necessity.
“Separately, our plan will also give direct, rapid aid to school districts to further prevent staff and program cuts. In the process, it includes reasonable reforms to get us on track toward building the world-class education system our economy needs and our children deserve.
“This plan will also provide much-needed help for low- and middle-income students while strengthening local economies. By increasing the Pell Grant scholarship by $500 and providing a $2500 tuition tax credit for middle-class families, we can expand college access and help colleges continue to generate jobs, revenue, and other economic benefits for local.
“For workers who have been laid off, our plan will help train and prepare them for green jobs and other 21st century jobs – creating the highly-skilled, competitive workforce our economy will need as it recovers. And for the millions of Americans that have lost their health care coverage along with their jobs, our plan will help both recently-laid off and older workers stay covered by expanding their access to affordable health insurance.
“As President Obama has said, this plan will not turn our economy around overnight, and it won’t solve every problem we face. But it is an enormous step toward our goal of saving and creating millions of jobs and getting our economy moving forward again. It’s time to give Americans the relief – and hope – they’ve been waiting for.”
BACKGROUND
The final agreement reached by House and Senate negotiators includes:
Save and Create Jobs, Prevent Education Cuts
- A $53.6 billon state stabilization fund to help states prevent cutbacks, layoffs, create jobs by modernizing schools and colleges and meet other needs. $5 billion of this fund will be used as bonus grants to states that make progress on key education reforms, like getting better teachers in high-need classrooms and improving the quality of assessments.
- $13 billion in Title I – which goes to educate low-income students – for school districts and $12.2 billion in IDEA funding to help districts educate students with disabilities.
- $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start, to expand critical early education opportunities for an additional 124,000 low-income infants and children. According to estimates, this will also create 50,000 new early education jobs. '
- $2 billion for Child Care Development Block Grants to provide child care services to an additional 300,000 low-income children while their parents are at work.
Immediate Aid to Make College More Affordable
- $500 increase in the Pell Grant scholarship for the next school year – a boost that will benefit up to seven million students. In FY 2006, almost 75 percent of Pell Grant recipients had family incomes of $30,000 or below.
- Creates a new $2,500 tuition tax credit to help an additional four million students families pay for college.
Helping workers find jobs
- Almost $4 billion for job training programs to help prepare laid-off, adult, and younger workers prepare for jobs in emerging industries including green jobs.
- $500 million to help prepare Americans with disabilities for employment.
- $120 million to provide community service jobs to an additional 24,000 low-income older Americans.
- $500 million to help states place unemployed workers in open jobs.
Affordable Health Care for Unemployed Workers
- Workers who recently lost their job will be eligible to receive a 65 percent subsidy towards their COBRA premium for up to nine months – helping both recently laid-off workers and older workers and tenured workers stay covered by expanding access to affordable health care coverage.
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