Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers: Reauthorization Proposals in the 114th Congress, In Brief

Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers: Reauthorization Proposals in the 114th Congress, In Brief

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Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers:
Reauthorization Proposals in the 114th
Congress, In Brief
Benjamin Collins
Analyst in Labor Policy
May 15, 2015
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R44009

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Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers: Reauthorization Proposals

his report is designed to provide assistance in considering Trade Adjustment Assistance
(TAA) for Workers reauthorization efforts in the 114th Congress.1 It begins with
Tbackground information on TAA and a summary of recent legislation. It then presents a
table that compares recent reauthorization proposals in the House and the Senate with provisions
in current and prior law.
Purpose of Program and Program Description
TAA for Workers is a program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that
provides assistance to domestic workers who have been adversely affected by international trade.
Reduced barriers to international trade are widely acknowledged to yield net benefits to the wider
population but may have concentrated negative effects on certain industries and workers that face
increased competition. TAA aims to mitigate these negative effects through benefits to trade-
affected workers.
The primary benefits for TAA-eligible workers are funds for retraining and income support while
an eligible worker is enrolled in training. The income support is formally known as “Trade
Readjustment Allowance” or TRA. TAA-eligible workers may also receive case management and
other employment-related services and benefits. TAA-eligible workers age 50 and over who
obtain reemployment at a lower wage may participate in a wage supplement program. All DOL-
administered TAA benefits are supported through mandatory appropriations.
Establishing eligibility for TAA is a two-step process. First, a group of dislocated workers at a
single firm petitions the DOL to establish that foreign competition “contributed importantly” to
their job loss and met other statutory criteria. DOL then conducts an investigation. If the
investigation finds that the circumstances of job loss meet the statutory criteria, the group petition
is certified. Individual workers covered by a certified group petition may then pursue benefits
through state workforce systems and state unemployment insurance systems.
Recent Legislative History
TAA was last reauthorized in 2011 by the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011
(TAAEA; Title II of P.L. 112-40). TAAEA established one set of eligibility and benefit provisions
that was in place between enactment in 2011 and December 31, 2013 (the “2011 provisions”).
The sunset provisions of TAAEA specified that on January 1, 2014, a more restrictive set of
provisions (the “Reversion 2014 provisions”) would take effect. These provisions took effect as
scheduled and remain in place.2

1 Smaller TAA programs target firms and farmers that are adversely affected by international trade. This product
focuses on the Workers program. For information on the Firms program, see CRS Report RS20210, Trade Adjustment
Assistance for Firms: Economic, Program, and Policy Issues, by Mary Jane Bolle. For information on the Farmers
program, see CRS Report R40206, Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers, by Mark A. McMinimy.
2 TAAEA authorized the Reversion 2014 provisions for one year and the TAA program was scheduled to be phased out
beginning January 1, 2015. However, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-
235) provided funding for the program and expressed an intent for TAA to fully operate through September 30, 2015.
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Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers: Reauthorization Proposals

Committees in both the House and the Senate have reported TAA reauthorization legislation. The
reported bills’ TAA for workers provisions are substantively the same.
On April 23, 2015, the House Ways and Means Committee ordered reported H.R. 1892, the Trade
Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015. A committee report was issued May 8, 2015.
On April 22, the Senate Finance Committee met in an open executive session to consider the
Chairman’s mark to reauthorize TAA and amend provisions of the program. The committee
approved the proposal by a vote of 17-9. On May 11, 2015, the Finance Committee issued a
report for S. 1268, the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015.
Comparison of Reauthorization Proposals to
Current and Prior TAA Provisions
Table 1 compares the TAA for Workers provisions of S. 1268/H.R. 1892 to the two sets of
provisions that were authorized under TAAEA.3 The provisions of S. 1268/H.R. 1892 reflect each
bill as reported by its relevant committee. As noted previously, the 2011 provisions were in effect
from 2011 through 2013, and the Reversion 2014 provisions took effect at the beginning of
calendar year 2014 and remain in effect.
The table focuses on major provisions of current and prior law and changes proposed by S.
1268/H.R. 1892. The table does not attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the TAA for
Workers program. For a more detailed description of the program, funding history, and program
data, see CRS Report R42012, Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers, by Benjamin Collins.
The table does not discuss the non-TAA provisions of the bills. More detailed analyses of the
complete bills, including the budgetary offsets are available from the Congressional Budget
Office (CBO).4

3 This report does not compare the reauthorization proposals to the TAA for Workers provisions that were enacted by
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5) and effective through February 2011. A
separate memorandum that compares the reauthorization proposals to the ARRA provisions of TAA is available from
the author of this report.
4 See CBO cost estimates for S. 1268 as ordered reported at http://www.cbo.gov/publication/50158 and H.R. 1892 as
ordered reported at http://www.cbo.gov/publication/50154.
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Table 1. Comparison of Trade Adjustment Assistance Provisions

2011 Provisions
Reversion 2014 Provisions
S. 1268/H.R. 1892
Duration of provisions
October 21, 2011, through
January 1, 2014 to present.
If enacted, through June 30, 2021.a
December 31, 2013.

Group Eligibility Criteria

Industries eligible for group certification
Workers who produce articles, and
Workers who produce articles.
Same as 2011 provisions.
Workers who produce services.
Eligibility under shift in production criteria
Eligible if applicants’ jobs are moved
Eligible if applicants’ jobs are moved
Same as 2011 provisions.
to any country.
to a country with which the United
States has a free trade agreement.b
Eligibility under increased imports criteria
Eligible if “imports of articles or
Eligible if “imports of articles like or
Same as 2011 provisions.
services like or directly competitive
directly competitive with articles
with articles produced or services
produced by [the petitioning firm]
supplied by [petitioning] firm have
have increased.”
increased.”
Eligibility for dislocated workers who work for a
Automatically eligible.
Not applicable. Workers may apply
Same as 2011 provisions.
firm that has been identified by the International
under other criteria.
Trade Commission as being injured by a qualified
market disruption
Retroactivity for groups covered by newly enacted
Required DOL to reconsider
Not applicable.
Would require DOL to reconsider
provisions
petitions denied between February
petitions denied under the
2011 and the enactment of TAAEA
Reversion 2014 criteria under the
in October 2011 under the newly
newly enacted criteria.
enacted criteria.
Would permit petitions certified
Permitted petitions certified under
under the newly enacted criteria to
the newly enacted criteria to cover
cover workers separated since
workers separated since February
January 1, 2014.
2010.
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2011 Provisions
Reversion 2014 Provisions
S. 1268/H.R. 1892
Reemployment Services and

Training Benefits
Annual funding cap for Reemployment Services and
$575 million cap for all
$220 million cap for training.
$450 million cap for all
Training Benefits
reemployment services, including
reemployments services, including
training and state administration.
Congress may appropriate additional training and state administration.
funds for state administration and
other benefits.
Funding for Case Management and Employment
Funded out of Reemployment
Does not authorize funds for these
Same as 2011 provisions.
Services
Services funds.
purposes. States may use other
workforce funding to provide these
States must allocate at least 5% of
services.
their reemployment funds to case
management and employment
services.

Trade Readjustment Allowance

For individual beneficiaries: Maximum Duration of
130 weeks, the final 13 of which are
Same as 2011 provisions.
Same as 2011 provisions.
combined Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Trade
only available if necessary for the
Readjustment Allowance (TRA) for workers
worker to complete a training
enrolled in qualified training
program and the worker meets
intermediate benchmarks.
Deadline to enroll in training to be eligible for TRA
Worker must enroll in training
Worker must enroll in training
Same as 2011 provisions.
within 26 weeks of either layoff or
within 8 weeks of TAA certification
TAA certification, whichever is later. or 16 weeks of layoff, whichever is
later.

Other TAA Benefits

Wage insurance program for workers age 50 and
Called Reemployment Trade
Called Alternative Trade Adjustment Same as 2011 provisions.
over
Adjustment Assistance (RTAA).
Assistance (ATAA).
Maximum benefit of $10,000.
Maximum benefit of $10,000.
RTAA beneficiaries may participate
ATAA beneficiaries may not
in TAA-funded training.
participate in TAA-funded training.
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2011 Provisions
Reversion 2014 Provisions
S. 1268/H.R. 1892
Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC)
Provided a tax credit equal to 72.5%
Not applicable. HCTC expired after
Reinstates the HCTC as a credit
of qualified health insurance
December 31, 2013.
equal to 72.5% of qualified health
premiums.
insurance premiums through
December 31, 2019.
Requires beneficiaries to elect
between the HCTC and premium
credits under the Affordable Care
Act.
Source: CRS analysis of relevant legislation.
a. Sunset provisions specify that more restrictive eligibility and benefit provisions would take effect July 1, 2021. These provisions, which are similar to the Reversion
2014 provisions, would be scheduled to remain in place for one year before authorization of appropriations expires after June 30, 2022.
b. Dislocated workers are also eligible if their jobs are moved to a country that is a beneficiary under the Andean Trade Preference Act, the African Growth and
Opportunity Act, or the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act.

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Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers: Reauthorization Proposals

Author Contact Information
Benjamin Collins
Analyst in Labor Policy
bcollins@crs.loc.gov, 7-7382

Congressional Research Service
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