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Employment Impacts
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The recovery act played two important roles in employment and workforce training, easing the burden of the recession on workers and employers by providing extended and expanded unemployment benefits and assistance and providing worker training for high demand jobs. The state received around $770 million for these needs over a two and a half year period. Some key programs that were funded with ARRA include:
- A $25 weekly increase in unemployment benefits. For Oregon this meant up to $200 million in additional federal funds.
- Twenty additional weeks of benefits for Oregonians who exhausted their original unemployment claims.
- Oregon received approximately $38 million in Recovery Act funds for job creation, job training, and job placement services for Oregonians.
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| Projects |
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Modernization - These Recovery Act formula grants through the U.S. Department of Labor provided incentive to states to update their unemployment policies to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce. In particular, program enhancements were required to meet the terms of the grant. In Oregon, the State adopted an alternate base year (ABY), allowing people with intermittent work history to use their most recent work history to qualify. Oregon also updated several other sections of UI law, including provisions on compelling family reasons/domestic violence, and clarification to the extended benefits law. These are permanent program changes.
Emergency Benefits - The Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program was enacted initially in July 2008, and provides people who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits with an additional 20 weeks of benefits. The Recovery Act extended this program of the U.S. Department of Labor past its initial termination date of March 31, 2009, to enable its operation through December 31, 2009. Additional Congressional extensions continued the program through April 5, 2010, with a phase-out date of September 4, 2010.
Extra $25 - This Recovery Act grant through the U.S. Department of Labor provides an additional $25 per benefit payment. The increased benefit amount applied to the following programs administered by the Employment Department: Regular UI benefits, Extended Benefits, Trade Readjustment Allowance,Workshare, Training UI, Supplemental Unemployment, Self-employment Assistance, and Emergency Unemployment benefits. The program expired December 31, 2009, with phase-out extensions into 2010.
Extended Benefits - Extended benefits are available to individuals who have exhausted all regular and emergency unemployment benefits, and provide claimants an additional 13 weeks of benefits. Typically this program is funded 50/50 (state/federal). The Recovery Act provided 100 percent federal funding through the U.S. Department of Labor. This funding was active through December 31, 2009. However, several extensions passed Congress which extended the federal share through April 5, 2010. Also, a phase-out period where this federal funding continued into September 2010.
Occupational Safety - The purpose of this grant was to fund additional enforcement activity at ARRA-funded projects and related industries. This included salaries, fringe benefits, travel, and limited equipment. The result was greater focus on worker safety and health at ARRA-funded worksites, for the purpose of reducing or eliminating illnesses, injuries and fatalities.
WorkSource Oregon - This grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to theWorkSource Oregon field offices provided additional money through the Recovery Act to enhance Employment Service operations, with a concerted focus on reemployment services to the unemployed. Individuals can still benefit from these enhancements by visiting their local office for a skills test, assistance on job search, resume writing, job-readiness, and also to find out about training opportunities.
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| Project Categories |
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To learn more about projects near you, take a look at our Tracking the Dollars map to select specific projects or select one of the categories below to learn more about the types of projects funded. Projects can be divided specifically by the following categories:
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