[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 145 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 145

Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Federal job 
                               guarantee.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 22, 2021

Ms. Pressley submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Federal job 
                               guarantee.

Whereas Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes that 
        ``everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just 
        and favorable conditions of work and to protection against 
        unemployment'';
Whereas a job guarantee was a central demand and unfinished legacy of the civil 
        rights movement, such that--

    (1) at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther 
King, Jr., joined A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin in demanding a job 
guarantee;

    (2) in the subsequent decade, Coretta Scott King led a grassroots 
movement to enact a job guarantee;

    (3) these leaders all built on and advanced the work of earlier 
pioneers like Sadie T.M. Alexander, the Nation's first Black economist, who 
advocated a job guarantee to address racial discrimination against Black 
workers, while improving labor market conditions for all workers in the 
1940s; and

    (4) throughout the past 100 years, activists and intellectuals like 
Ella Baker and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party have all seen a 
Federal job guarantee as a key element of racial justice;

Whereas the right to a ``useful and remunerative'' job was the first and most 
        fundamental right in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposed Economic 
        Bill of Rights and is a core plank of the Green New Deal movement and 
        the People's Justice Guarantee;
Whereas a job guarantee is essential to any effort to close the racial and 
        gender income and wealth gap;
Whereas the United States has, on multiple occasions, including from 1945 to 
        1946, 1977 to 1978, and more recently, introduced legislation in an 
        attempt to establish a full employment economy;
Whereas the commitment to full employment has been embraced by Congress and is 
        part of the statutory mandate of the Federal Reserve System;
Whereas the United States has experienced decades of increasing inequality, 
        racial economic exclusion and inequity, stagnant wages, declining union 
        membership, and deteriorating workplace protections and conditions;
Whereas the United States has experienced decades of chronic underinvestment in 
        its communities, workforce, infrastructure, public services, 
        agricultural and industrial heartland, and natural environment;
Whereas the United States has, for decades, perpetuated a punitive, racist, 
        ineffective criminal legal system that has systematically excluded 
        millions of individuals from the workforce, failed to effectively 
        promote reentry for previously incarcerated individuals, and forced 
        incarcerated individuals to work in oppressive and exploitative 
        conditions for effectively no pay;
Whereas the United States is experiencing a long-term economic crisis in which 
        many workers are overworked, underpaid, and experience job and economic 
        insecurity, with at least 100 million Americans living in or near 
        poverty, and 28 percent of full-time workers earning less than $15 an 
        hour according to the National Equity Atlas;
Whereas the United States is facing a weak economy and sluggishly facing a 
        grossly unequal recovery in the aftermath of the global financial crisis 
        that has benefited few at the expense of many;
Whereas the United States presently fails to recognize, support, or adequately 
        remunerate the household and care work of millions of women, parents, 
        and familial caregivers;
Whereas economic prosperity in the United States has been highly unequal since 
        its founding, largely falling on racial lines, with Black and indigenous 
        Americans consistently earning less, owning less, and experiencing 
        greater rates of economic precarity and poverty than White Americans;
Whereas the United States has not increased the minimum wage for years, and 
        maintains subminimum wage carveouts for incarcerated people, people with 
        disabilities, and tipped workers;
Whereas the United States presently exploits millions of undocumented workers, 
        by forcing them to work in substandard conditions and below prevailing 
        wages;
Whereas the United States is presently experiencing a generational crisis, as 
        millions of younger and older workers face structural barriers to 
        meaningful participation in the workforce;
Whereas the United States is underinvesting in creative, cultural, scientific, 
        and knowledge industries, including higher education, libraries, public 
        art, and journalism;
Whereas the United States is facing four overlapping and compounding crises, 
        namely the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, systemic racism, and 
        extreme economic inequality, that together require a large-scale 
        mobilization on the scale of World War II to address;
Whereas the United States is experiencing a sustained economic depression, in 
        which low-wage workers, and Black, Latinx, Native American, and other 
        communities of color, as well as women and people with disabilities, 
        have suffered disproportionate employment and income losses and face 
        mounting debts;
Whereas the United States is facing growing demand for care work and social 
        services as the baby boomer generation retires from the workforce, and 
        the senior population is expected to nearly double between 2018 and 
        2060;
Whereas the United States is facing new workforce challenges relating to 
        privacy, worker autonomy, data gathering and surveillance, and 
        automation, as a result of new technologies and the rapidly changing 
        nature of industry, and these challenges have been accelerated by the 
        COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas the United States currently suffers from high levels of underemployment, 
        persistent joblessness among marginalized populations, and the growth of 
        primarily low-quality jobs, resulting in--

    (1) the loss of millions of hours of potential output, as well as 
deterioration of skills and productive capacity;

    (2) lower community living standards, increased levels of working 
poverty and homelessness, and higher rates of individual and family 
suffering, including physical and mental health problems;

    (3) higher rates of workplace discrimination, harassment, and a ``last 
hired, first fired'' approach that disproportionately affects vulnerable 
populations, including Black workers, women, LGTBQIA workers, workers with 
disabilities, formerly incarcerated workers, and young and elderly workers;

    (4) an effective minimum wage of zero for those who cannot obtain 
employment; and

    (5) an increasing fraction of the workforce forced to undertake 
multiple jobs, or engage in dangerous work with insufficient labor 
protections;

Whereas reliance on private investment alone has never historically succeeded in 
        establishing a true full employment economy, in which every individual 
        wishing to undertake paid work can do so;
Whereas reliance on education, skill development, job training, and other 
        ``indirect'' policies alone have never historically succeeded in 
        establishing a true full employment economy, in which every individual 
        wishing to undertake paid work can do so;
Whereas untargeted, demand-increasing stimulus alone has never historically 
        succeeded in establishing a true full employment economy, in which every 
        individual wishing to undertake paid work can do so;
Whereas the Federal Government has the unique legal and financial capacity, 
        relative to the local and State governments and the private sector, to 
        credibly commit to funding the programs and institutions necessary to 
        establish a true full employment economy, in which every individual 
        wishing to undertake paid work can do so;
Whereas the Federal Reserve, on its own, has never historically succeeded in 
        establishing a true full employment economy, in which every individual 
        wishing to undertake paid work can do so, and by its own admission, 
        lacks the necessary tools and capacity to do so;
Whereas Congress and the Department of the Treasury have a demonstrated track 
        record of successfully funding and administering direct job creation 
        programs, including the Works Progress Administration and Civilian 
        Conservation Corps during the New Deal, which created over six million 
        jobs in less than a year;
Whereas Congress and the Treasury have a demonstrated track record of mass-scale 
        mobilization of the economy, including during World War II, when the 
        United States maintained an average unemployment rate of under 2 
        percent, and successfully doubled real output of the entire economy in 
        under 6 years in the face of an unprecedented existential threat; and
Whereas President Biden has taken Executive action on the creation of a Civilian 
        Climate Corps Initiative, in need of dedicated, permanent funding on a 
        nondiscretionary basis, to mobilize the next generation of conservation 
        and resilience workers and maximize the creation of accessible training 
        opportunities and good jobs: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a 
        Federal job guarantee--
                    (A) to finally eliminate the moral and economic 
                scourge of involuntary unemployment;
                    (B) to establish a true full employment society, in 
                which anyone who wants to undertake paid work in the 
                service of the community and the environment has ample 
                opportunities to do so;
                    (C) to collectively achieve the greatest possible 
                level of socially and ecologically sustainable 
                prosperity, and share the fruits of that prosperity 
                equitably among all people;
                    (D) to empower the working class by offering every 
                worker, regardless of his or her background, capacity, 
                or status, the opportunity to earn a fair, living wage, 
                and to organize with fellow workers to advocate for 
                common interests;
                    (E) to ensure every person in America has genuine 
                and meaningful opportunities for education, training, 
                career advancement, and choice with respect to 
                workforce participation;
                    (F) to update and expand our understanding of 
                socially necessary or useful work to include 
                historically underrecognized and uncompensated labor, 
                including domestic and social care, ecological 
                preservation, and cultural, scientific, and creative 
                work;
                    (G) to promote justice and equity by stopping 
                current, preventing future, and repairing historic 
                oppression and discrimination of indigenous peoples, 
                communities of color, migrant communities, 
                deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural 
                communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the 
                elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and 
                youth (referred to in this resolution as ``frontline 
                and vulnerable communities'');
                    (H) to complete the unfinished legacy of the civil 
                rights movement and the New Deal, and meet the 
                contemporary challenges posed by the climate crisis 
                identified in the Green New Deal resolution; and
                    (I) to meet the broader social and economic 
                challenges of the 21st century through appropriate 
                public investment, socially coordinated planning, and 
                industrial cooperation;
            (2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (I) of 
        paragraph (1) (the ``job guarantee goals'') should be 
        accomplished through an immediate national mobilization--
                    (A) to establish and honor a legally enforceable 
                right to fair, dignified, and decently remunerated 
                employment for all eligible individuals living in the 
                United States (hereafter the ``right to employment'');
                    (B) to establish and honor a Bill of Workers' 
                Rights, as a complement to the right to employment, 
                that addresses issues related to worker exploitation, 
                discrimination, harassment, compensation, privacy, 
                autonomy, choice of employment, working conditions, the 
                right to organize and collectively bargain, suitable 
                accommodation for people with disabilities, protection 
                and expansion of existing safety net programs, and 
                other related concerns (hereafter the ``Workers' Bill 
                of Rights'');
                    (C) to establish, implement, and administer a 
                comprehensive and diverse range of socially necessary 
                and useful public projects, reflective of community and 
                regional needs, including direct public job creation 
                programs, and to support related education, training, 
                credentialing, and career development programs, to 
                ensure workers enjoy meaningful choice and appropriate 
                opportunities for growth and advancement in their 
                chosen area of employment (hereafter the ``enabling 
                programs'');
                    (D) to design and implement the right to 
                employment, Workers' Bill of Rights, and enabling 
                programs through transparent and inclusive 
                consultation, collaboration, and partnership with 
                frontline and vulnerable communities, labor unions, 
                worker cooperatives, civil society groups, State and 
                local governments, academia, and businesses;
                    (E) to take ecological and equitable concerns into 
                consideration when designing and implementing the right 
                to employment, Workers' Bill of Rights, and enabling 
                programs, as well as any other related infrastructural 
                and administrative institutions and procedures;
                    (F) to take any and all necessary steps to ensure, 
                wherever possible, that all people benefit from the 
                collective prosperity resulting from the establishment 
                of the right to employment, Workers' Bill of Rights, 
                and enabling programs; and
                    (G) to adequately and appropriately fund these 
                efforts on a permanent, nondiscretionary basis, using 
                Congress power of the purse, through a combination of 
                Federal support to local and State governments, and 
                various direct Federal grant and investment programs;
            (3) the national mobilization towards a Federal job 
        guarantee would include projects that--
                    (A) strengthen communities, retool our economy, 
                achieve inclusive prosperity, and leave no one behind;
                    (B) address national priorities as well as those 
                put forward by local governments and community 
                organizations, with the participation of communities 
                impacted by structural racism, oppression, and 
                disinvestment in the selection of projects;
                    (C) create net new jobs, without displacing 
                existing public sector workers; and
                    (D) prioritize racial equity and environmental 
                sustainability, including but not limited to ensuring a 
                just transition for workers and frontline communities 
                currently involved in unsustainable industries;
            (4) job guarantee workers would be employed in a range of 
        ways, including but not limited to--
                    (A) ensuring the delivery of high-quality, 
                professional care to children, seniors, and others in 
                need of long-term support in family based, informal, 
                and formal settings;
                    (B) augmenting the staffing of public education and 
                early childhood learning, including Head Start and 
                preschool;
                    (C) strengthening public afterschool programs, 
                libraries, and recreational programs to provide 
                lifelong learning and enrichment for people of all 
                ages;
                    (D) implementing community infrastructure and 
                improvement projects that revitalize neighborhoods, 
                including vacant and abandoned property cleanup, street 
                and sidewalk repair, remodeling and modernization of 
                schools and other public community-serving facilities, 
                and maintenance and renovation of parks, playgrounds, 
                and public spaces;
                    (E) expanding emergency preparedness, and relief 
                and recovery from natural and community disasters, 
                including public health, natural disasters, and 
                environmental emergencies;
                    (F) producing works of public art and documentation 
                of United States history akin to the Works Project 
                Administration's Federal Art Project;
                    (G) implementing environmental conservation, 
                remediation, and sustainability initiatives, increasing 
                the energy efficiency of buildings and our housing 
                stock to address climate change, and building climate 
                resistance through programs such as the Civilian 
                Climate Corps;
                    (H) rehabilitating and retrofitting our existing 
                affordable housing stock to ensure safe, affordable, 
                quality, energy-efficient homes, and supporting the 
                development of new affordable housing and social 
                housing to address the Nation's housing crisis;
                    (I) producing creative, scientific, artistic, or 
                cultural works, which would then be made open and 
                available for public use; and
                    (J) supporting other projects that address public 
                needs and can be implemented quickly;
            (5) job guarantee jobs would pay no less than $15 per hour, 
        adjusted on a regular basis to ensure a rising standard of 
        living, and would not replace any existing safety net programs 
        or benefits, including unemployment insurance;
            (6) job guarantee jobs would also offer benefits, 
        including--
                    (A) health insurance consistent with that provided 
                to existing Federal Government employees;
                    (B) paid sick days and family leave;
                    (C) retirement benefits; and
                    (D) paid vacation;
            (7) job guarantee workers would--
                    (A) be able to join public sector unions and 
                bargain collectively for better working conditions and 
                compensation;
                    (B) be protected against discrimination and 
                harassment by Federal labor laws;
                    (C) have their data protected and their privacy 
                respected; and
                    (D) be empowered to develop lasting skills through 
                on-the-job training, as well as paid apprenticeships, 
                credentialing, and other career-building opportunities;
            (8) job guarantee work would--
                    (A) be made available--
                            (i) on a full-time and part-time basis for 
                        adult residents age 18 and over, depending on 
                        worker needs, including those with involvement 
                        in the criminal legal system;
                            (ii) on a part-time basis for young people 
                        ages 16 and 17;
                            (iii) for short- or long-term periods, 
                        depending on worker needs; and
                            (iv) to all people on a nondiscriminatory 
                        basis, including people with disabilities;
                    (B) include outreach and recruitment, conducted in 
                multiple languages;
                    (C) provide workers and aspiring workers with 
                support services, such as childcare and transportation 
                assistance, and specific accommodations, as needed to 
                access jobs and fulfill job responsibilities; and
                    (D) meaningfully expand our social safety net and 
                would not replace any existing safety net programs or 
                benefits, including unemployment insurance; and
            (9) the job guarantee program would be administered by the 
        Department of Labor and overseen by the Secretary of Labor in 
        coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, who would be 
        responsible for dispersing funding, and in particular--
                    (A) the Secretary of Labor would direct Treasury 
                funds to local employment offices to manage job 
                guarantee projects and match job seekers to projects, 
                as well as cover any related capital and administrative 
                costs, with funds targeted during the initial 3-year 
                startup period to areas of greatest employment need; 
                and
                    (B) State, county, and local governments, as well 
                as territories and Tribal Nations, would help 
                administer the program, engaging residents in community 
                assessments and participatory processes to identify job 
                guarantee projects to go into a Community Job Bank.
                                 <all>