Rangel Proposes Bill To Revise Trade Adjustment Assistance Program

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) late last week proposed a bill that would revise the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, the Wall Street Journal (Hitt, Wall Street Journal, 10/15). Under the program, among other benefits, manufacturing workers displaced by international trade can receive tax credits that cover 65% of the cost of health insurance premiums. Secondary workers -- those who lose their jobs because they provide services for U.S. industries affected by international trade -- also can receive the tax credits. Eligible workers can receive the tax credits in advance or as a refund in their federal tax returns (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/12).

The bill, likely to reach the House floor early next month, would expand the program to service workers and reduce eligibility requirements. In the next few days, Rangel plans to meet with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to discuss the bill, and the measure might be revised. According to the Journal, President Bush has offered few "specifics about how far he might be willing to go to work with Democrats" on legislation to revise the program, but, with "Congress and the White House already sparring over fiscal discipline, battles may loom about the costs of expanding the program and how to finance it" (Wall Street Journal, 10/15).

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