Congresswoman Hirono Announces $482,764 in Federal Funds for Hawaii to Help Workers Who Lost Their Jobs Due to Foreign Trade
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) today announced the state of Hawai‘i will soon receive $482,764 in federal funding under the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program. This entitlement program assists workers who lost their jobs as the result of foreign trade.
But for the first time, due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the TAA program has been expanded to include aiding affected workers in service industries such as hotel, restaurant, and airline employees.
While the Recovery Act did not appropriate these funds for the TAA program, it did increase the maximum amount of TAA funds that may be used for job training from $220 million to $575 million, nationwide.
Because of these changes created by the Recovery Act, the state of Hawai‘i will receive $115,447 in training funds, $17,317 in administrative funds and $350,000 in case management funds, for a total of $482,764. This funding will be distributed to Hawai‘i over the next few weeks and be immediately available for use.
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