[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 134 (Thursday, September 18, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S5794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. Harkin, and Mr. Whitehouse):
  S. 2906. A bill to provide for the treatment and extension of 
temporary financing of short-time compensation programs; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am joined by Senators Harkin and 
Whitehouse in introducing the Layoff Prevention Extension Act of 2014. 
This bill would extend the financing and grant provisions for the work 
sharing initiative I authored and worked to include as part of the 
Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. Since becoming 
law, work sharing has helped save over 110,000 jobs, including 1,200 
jobs in my State of Rhode Island, according to the Department of Labor. 
It has saved States $225 million by reimbursing them for work sharing 
benefits they paid out to workers--benefits that helped keep people on 
the job as employees and employers elected to reduce hours across the 
board instead of laying workers off.
  Before my bill became law only a handful of States had work sharing 
programs. By tilting the incentives away from layoffs and toward work 
sharing a majority of states now have laws on their books. However, the 
100 percent Federal financing of these work sharing benefits will 
expire in the summer of 2015 and the $100 million in implementation 
grants by the end of this year. My bill would extend both of these 
deadlines by one year so States with existing work sharing programs and 
those that are looking to enact a program can qualify for Federal 
support.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this bill to keep American 
workers on the job and encourage more States to enact work sharing 
programs that enjoy broad support in States that have adopted them and 
economists on both sides of the spectrum.
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