II 110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2755 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 13, 2008 Mrs. Murray introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide funding for summer youth jobs.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Summer Jobs Stimulus Act of 2008.

2.

Summer youth jobs

(a)

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)a temporary $1,000,000,000 investment in summer employment for youth, through the summer youth jobs program supported under this section, will create up to 1,000,000 jobs for economically disadvantaged youth and stimulate local economies; (2)research from Northwestern University has shown that every $1 a youth earns has an accelerator effect of $3 on the local economy; (3)there is a serious and growing need for employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth, as demonstrated by statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics stating that, in December 2007— (A)the unemployment rate increased to 5 percent, as compared to 4.4 percent in December 2006; (B)the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds rose to 17 percent, as compared to 13 percent in December 2006; and (C)the unemployment rate for African-American 16- to 19-year-olds increased 5 percent in 1 month, jumping to 34.7 percent, as compared to 20 percent in December 2006; (4)summer youth jobs help supplement the income of families living in poverty; (5)summer youth jobs provide valuable work experience to economically disadvantaged youth; (6)often, the summer jobs provided through the program are an economically disadvantaged youth's introduction to the world of work; (7)according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, early work experience is a very powerful predictor of success and earnings in the labor market, and early work experiences raises earnings over a lifetime by 10 to 20 percent; (8)participation in a summer youth jobs program can contribute to a reduction in criminal and high-risk behavior for youth; and (9)(A)summer youth job programs benefit both youth and communities when designed around principles that promote mutually beneficial programs; (B)youth benefit from summer youth jobs that provide them with work readiness skills and that help them make the connection between responsibility on the job and success in adulthood; and (C)communities benefit when youth are engaged productively during the summer, providing much-needed services that meet real community needs. (b)

Appropriations

Out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and in addition to any funds appropriated under any provision of Federal law other than this section, there is appropriated to the Secretary of Labor for youth activities under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), $1,000,000,000, which shall be available for the period of April 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008, under the conditions described in subsection (c). (c)

Conditions

(1)

Use of funds

The funds appropriated under subsection (b) shall be used for summer employment opportunities referred to in section 129(c)(2)(C) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2854(c)(2)(C)). (2)

Limitation

Such funds shall be distributed in accordance with sections 127 and 128 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2852, 2853), except that no portion of such funds shall be reserved to carry out 128(a) or 169 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2853(a), 2914). (3)

Measure of effectiveness

The effectiveness of the activities carried out with such funds shall be measured, under section 136 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2871), only with performance measures based on the core indicators of performance described in section 136(b)(2)(A)(ii)(I) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2871(b)(2)(A)(ii)(I)).