The bipartisan BRIDGE for Workers Act, which will expand job placement services to all unemployment insurance claimants, is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
Formally known as the Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment (BRIDGE) for Workers Act, H.R. 5861, which U.S. House Ways and Means Work and Welfare Subcommittee Chairman Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Ranking Member Danny Davis (D-IL) introduced in October 2023, the bill passed the U.S. Senate on Nov. 13 after receiving approval on Sept. 17 from the U.S. House of Representatives.
“This common-sense, bipartisan bill will eliminate unnecessary restrictions that prevent many Americans looking for work from having access to valuable workforce development tools,” LaHood said on Nov. 15. “I am thrilled that the BRIDGE for Workers Act has passed through both chambers of Congress with unanimous support, and I look forward to it being signed into law in the coming days and seeing the benefit it provides to our communities.”
The measure permanently expands the allowable purposes for certain U.S. Labor Department grants to states for reemployment services and eligibility assessments. Specifically, the bill permanently allows these grants to be used to fund reemployment services and eligibility assessments for all claimants for unemployment compensation.
Under the current statute, the grants may only be used to provide such services to a subset of claimants who have been identified by the state as likely to exhaust unemployment benefits and need job search assistance to become employed.
However, in recent years, annual appropriations acts have allowed the grants to be used for all claimants for unemployment compensation, an authority the bill now will make permanent.
“I am proud of our bipartisan work to get the BRIDGE for Workers Act to President Biden to sign into law,” Davis said. “This bill will ensure that our states can provide reemployment services to individuals who would most benefit from additional help to get back into the workforce.”
Simple services, like job market information and resume assistance, help people get back to work faster, and “even a week or two of getting a paycheck instead of an unemployment benefit makes a difference for a household budget,” added Davis.
Once enacted, H.R. 5861 will make a correction to the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program that clarifies reemployment services can be provided to all unemployment insurance claimants, not just those most likely to exhaust their benefits.
RESEAs are in-person interviews during which unemployment insurance claimants may receive a variety of services, including career information that addresses specific claimant needs; enrollment in employment services, such as job search assistance; employability assessments or job matching services.
The bill also will bolster program integrity by ensuring claimants are complying with eligibility rules, including the requirement that a unemployment insurance claimant must be able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work, according to the bill’s text.
“More Americans on unemployment insurance are closer than ever to getting the assistance they need to reconnect with the workforce and find a new job,” said U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). “America has faced a labor shortage over the last several years. This legislation takes steps to end that shortage by helping Americans find work compatible with their skills.
“It makes the system more fair while also taking steps to protect taxpayer money and ensure only eligible Americans actually receive these benefits,” he said.