On the heels of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued yesterday, the Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee will begin a review today of the nation's unemployment insurance program.  GAO's report reviewed the 47 different education and job training programs currently run by nine different government agencies. The programs under review are designed to help unemployed… Read more

99ers Need Help While Waiting for Job Creations!!!! Name:  Yvonne Goersch Title of Hearing:  99ers Need Help While Waiting for Job Creations!!!! The fact that I need to have a place to stay feed my child and to just survive while these jobs are being created is the most important thing in my life right now. I have worked my whole life and never thought this would happen to me I have… Read more

Kristen Cox, Executive Director Utah Department of Workforce Services   Supporting documentation for oral testimony presented to the SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS February 10, 2011     UTAH DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE SERVICES RE-EMPLOYMENT STRATEGIES FOR HELPING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CLAIMANTS RETURN TO WORK   Principle Effective… Read more

Written Testimony of Tom Pauken, Chairman, Texas Workforce Commission February 10, 2011 Thank you Chairman Davis, Ranking Member Doggett and distinguished members of the subcommittee for allowing me to submit this written testimony.  Texas has an important story to tell and because I believe our experience can help policymakers here and in other states address the problem of… Read more

Testimony before Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means on “Improving Efforts to Help Unemployed Americans Find Jobs” Heather Boushey, Senior Economist, Center for American Progress Action Fund February 10, 2010 Thank you, Chairman Davis and Ranking Member Doggett for inviting me here today to testify on how we can improve our efforts to help… Read more

What a new GAO report could mean for social program spending The Government Accountability Office recently released a seemingly obscure report that could have important implications for the federal-state partnership on social programs in the years ahead.  The report has a title only a wonk could love: “Child Support Enforcement: Departures from Long-Term Trends in Sources of… Read more

According to news accounts, the Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget will propose several changes to the Federal/State Unemployment Insurance (UI) program.  Chief among them will be increasing the taxable wage base from $7,000 to $15,000 in 2014.  Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Geoff Davis (R-KY) issued the following… Read more

Today, the Department of Labor announced the unemployment rate for January was 9.0 percent. The weak jobs report marked the 21st consecutive month that the unemployment rate was at or above 9.0 percent. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement: “While some people might hail the 9 percent unemployment rate as a step in the right direction, let’s… Read more

THEN  (April 4, 2010): Administration officials say growing labor force is “a great sign.” Behind the high unemployment rate, "there's just been a tremendous increase in the labor force," Christina Romer, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, said on NBC's ‘Meet the Press.’  "Over the last three months, we've added more than a million people to the labor force. And… Read more

Congressman Geoff Davis (R-KY), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on improving efforts to help unemployed Americans find jobs.  The hearing will take place on Thursday, February 10, 2011, in Room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, immediately after a brief Subcommittee… Read more