U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reintroduced the bicameral Federal Jobs Guarantee Development Act, legislation that would establish a model federal jobs guarantee program in up to 15 high-unemployment communities and regions across the United States.
The model federal jobs guarantee program will:
- Select up to 15 sites across the country facing high unemployment based on local need and assets, ensuring that work would advance critical local and national priorities that the private sector under-provides, like child and elder care, infrastructure, and community revitalization;
- Guarantee that every adult with residence in a pilot community may participate in a guaranteed job. Jobs will include a minimum wage phasing in to $17/hour, paid family and sick leave, and health coverage like that enjoyed by Members of Congress;
- Require that each pilot community creates a “Community Job Bank” website, which will feature high-impact jobs sourced primarily by local communities, as well as Federal agencies, based on their needs and priorities;
- Expand the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to incentivize private employers to recruit and hire participants out of the pilot program; and
Authorize a rigorous evaluation of the program’s implementation and impact across a number of metrics, including unemployment rates, private sector wages, safety net spending, and incarceration rates.
For more information visit the Cory Booker site.