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Mayors Fight for $500 Million for Summer
Jobs
By Joan Crigger Mayors from across the nation
intensified their lobbying efforts this week to add $500 million to an Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations bill to help address the shortage of summer youth
employment opportunities facing cities in Summer 2000. On March 27, Vice President Al Gore
announced that the Administration would send to Congress a $40 million
supplemental request to the FY2000 budget for youth activities that would
provide summer jobs opportunities to more than 24,000 low-income youth in the 50
largest cities. The $40 million proposal falls far short of the $500 million
needed for the balance of the nation’s mayors. However, the White House action
will provide impetus to mayors’ efforts on the Hill for the higher level of
funding. The United States Conference of
Mayors continues to press for the $500 million to secure the funding level that
the nation’s mayors need to meet summer employment demands. The House
Appropriations committee did not include emergency youth funding in their
version of the supplemental bill. In House action on March 29,
following receipt of the President’s new request, Representative Rod R.
Blagojevich (IL) offered an amendment to the supplemental for $500 million for
youth activities under the Workforce Investment Act. The amendment was withdrawn
with a commitment from Appropriations Committee Chairman C. W. Young (FL) and
Ranking Minority Member Representative David R. Obey (WI) to bring the issue up
in Conference. The Senate Appropriations Committee,
chaired by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, has tentative plans to mark-up
the FY2000 supplemental appropriations bill also this week. Mayors have been
contacting Senators from their states and indications are that support of
emergency funding for youth is possible. An informal survey of cities shows
reductions of 30 percent to 80 percent in the number of summer jobs available
for youth this summer as opposed to the summer of 1999. Some cities will not be
able to offer any summer employment opportunities for their youth. These severe
reductions are an unintended consequence of the transition to the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) which is effective nationwide on July 1, 2000. WIA requires
more comprehensive services for youth on a year-round basis which significantly
raises the cost of serving each young person. And under WIA, for the first time,
governors take 15 percent off the top of the youth block grant funds and 30
percent of these funds must be dedicated to serving out-of-school youth. The
majority of young people in summer jobs are in-school. The Conference leadership during its
Winter Meeting in Key West signed and sent letters to the White House and
Congress requesting $500 million be added to the emergency supplemental
appropriations measure. And, during the 68th Winter Meeting of The United States
Conference of Mayors, the Executive Committee unanimously adopted a resolution
supporting sufficient funding to meet this need. The resolution was brought to
the Executive Committee by the Jobs Education and Workforce Committee headed by
Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill.
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