JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As the U.S. Senate returns to work this week, there are urgent calls for legislators to act quickly to ensure all Missouri families can meet their basic needs during and after the COVID crisis.

In the next two weeks, a moratorium on evictions will expire along with federal emergency unemployment benefits. Jeanette Mott Oxford, director of policy and organizing with Empower Missouri, said that could be a double whammy for the 4-in-10 Missouri households that have someone who has lost a job in recent months.

"A lot of people are having real difficulty buying all the food that they need making sure that all their rent is paid," Mott Oxford said. "It's a time of great instability and uncertainty; there's just so much to worry about right now."

The U.S. House passed the HEROES Act in May, a $3 trillion aid package that includes a broad range of supports including extended unemployment benefits, hazard pay, housing assistance and funding for cities and states. However, some have strongly criticized the bill's price tag and its provisions expanding unemployment.

The HEROES Act passed on a party line vote. The executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs - a national non-profit group - Deborah Weinstein, said it will help address the unprecedented challenges families are facing.

"We have not experienced anything like this for 100 years: we've got a stubborn disease that is keeping our economy from functioning the way it should," Weinstein said. "We cannot let our families suffer in this way. The consequences to children are so grave."

State and local governments are facing plummeting revenues due to the crisis, and with rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Missouri, Weinstein contended it's crucial for federal leaders to pass a relief package to help the most vulnerable. Senate Republicans are in favor of a relief bill that would provide direct stimulus payments to Americans and relief for businesses.

Immigrant New Yorkers want lawmakers to create an unemployment bridge program.

It would support unemployed workers who are ineligible for state unemployment insurance by establishing a $500 million fund, providing monthly compensation equal to what other workers receive.

Beyond undocumented people, freelancers and self-employed workers would also be eligible.

Sol Freire Figueroa, labor campaigns director with New York Communities for Change, said this will take a lot of political will.

"Right now in the current environment, the immigration conversation has been a topic that not everyone is willing to talk about, or take care of," said Figueroa. "There are many things the immigrant community needs, and we need the willingness of leadership to stand up for the immigrant community."

While the program has statewide support from lawmakers, it's still a budding concept.

A bill establishing the program was brought before the state Legislature, but failed to advance out of committee.

Figueroa said the biggest source of opposition centers around its potential funding source - a digital ad tax from companies with annual gross revenue from these services of $100 million or more.

While the tax is being debated, it's expected to raise $1 billion for New York, with the unemployment bridge program costing half that.

The program stems from the pandemic-era Excluded Workers Fund which filled a similar role. Figueroa said given how the economy has changed, this program has been a long time coming.

"Considering we're living in an economy where we have more and more workers accessing jobs like working at Uber, or a delivery worker," said Figueroa. "They should be able to access this type of benefit as they are putting the hours in, they are putting the work in."

Once the bill passes the state Legislature and is signed by the governor, Figueroa estimated it could take a year to get the program started.




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Federal investments are helping the city of Boston develop greater workforce training programs.

The city received $23 million in 2022 to develop pathways into quality child care, health care and energy jobs.

Trinh Nguyen, chief of worker empowerment for the City of Boston, said city officials knew they needed to focus on getting communities of color and women into well-paying careers.

"We also knew that there are very motivated, talented Boston residents who don't have a bachelor's degree that can meet employers' demand up and down the supply chain," Nguyen explained.

Nguyen pointed out about 2,800 Greater Boston residents have enrolled in the workforce training program. Already, more than 1,000 graduates have secured employment with benefits and opportunities for upward mobility.

In Boston, a significant focus has been child care, a sector in which young people are not filling positions quickly enough as more experienced providers retire.

Nguyen noted too often young people simply do not have the information they need to learn about training and licensure opportunities or where a job in child care could ultimately lead.

"You really have to go into the community and really inform about career pathways in child care," Nguyen observed. "We want to make sure that we have child care workers that reflect the diversity of the clientele for child care."

Nguyen added a stable and secure child care workforce is crucial to the region's future economic growth and that city officials are working with more than 100 employers to secure well-paid jobs for training program graduates. The training is made possible through the federal Good Jobs Challenge program, created through the American Rescue Plan.

For some, apprenticeships provide more than just a job, they offer a career path.

Industry leaders are working around the clock, not only on their day jobs but also to recruit the next generation seeking an alternate path to traditional college.

Jason Strickland, business manager for United Association Local 803, which represents plumbing, pipe fitting, and HVAC professionals in Central Florida, stepped out of his job fair to share how the program changed his life.

"I come from a family where there would be days I would come home and the power people would cut the power off where the locks would get put on the water because my folks couldn't pay all the bills all the time," Strickland recounted. "And now I don't have those same worries and my kids don't have those same worries because I got benefits. I got retirement. I got good training."

Strickland emphasized apprenticeship programs are essential for meeting the growing demand for skilled labor in the Sunshine State. He noted they are using social media to connect with younger generations and share opportunities in the trades. National Apprenticeship Week marked its 10th anniversary last week.

Glenn Kelly, Southern regional representative for North America's Building Trades Unions, prides himself on showcasing how apprenticeship programs offer hands-on-training while allowing participants to earn a living wage.

"We make sure that people understand that you can work with these hands and be able to have a good career for yourselves, make a good livable wage, a good sustainable career," Kelly outlined. "You can have opportunity to be able to retire with dignity. "

To explore a network of apprenticeship opportunities, individuals can learn more from Apprenticeship Florida, which provides access to navigators and resources for both employers and apprentices, all offered through CareerSource Florida and the Florida Department of Education.


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