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Judy Chu on Welfare & Poverty

Grants for faith-based groups to teach English.

Congressional Summary: Strengthen and Unite Communities with Civics Education and English Development Act of 2011: Allows state leadership activities grants to be used to provide technical assistance to faith and community-based organizations desiring grants under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act:

• to disseminate information regarding integrated English literacy, US history, and civics education programs;
• to study the effectiveness of distance learning or self-study programs for English language learners;
• awards grants to states for integrated English literacy, US history, and civics education programs, with each state's grant amount tied to the size and growth of their recent immigrant population.

Sponsor's Press Release (Rep. Mike Honda):The SUCCEED Act helps new Americans integrate into the social and economic fabric of this country, through English language education and civics instruction. The SUCCEED Act makes grants available to states to establish New American Councils that bring together business, faith, civic, philanthropic, non-profit and education stakeholders to create and implement immigrant integration programs.

Public jobs on community-based public interest projects.

CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY:
• There is established in the Department of Labor a New Economy Grant Program to provide grants for the creation of new jobs on specific public works projects carried out by State or local governments, and community-based public interest projects carried out by nonprofit organizations.
• Specific Project Grants- From the amounts made available, set aside an amount for each State based on the population of and relative unemployment rate.
• Entities eligible for a direct grant under this section include the following:
  - STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS that demonstrate an ability to promptly hire new employees for work on specific public works projects.
  - NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS- Community-based nonprofit organizations that demonstrate an ability to promptly hire and effectively manage new employees for work on specific projects.
• Such projects must be ready to commence work no later than 2 months after receiving a grant, and new positions of employment on such projects must be for a period of not less than 6 months.

SPONSOR'S INTRODUCTORY REMARKS:

Rep. HARE: The unemployed don't want another benefits check. They want a job. H.R. 4290 would tackle this problem by creating and helping retain millions of jobs. It will reach that goal by investing $60 billion per year over 3 years in TARP money.

• First, it would invest heavily in the creation of a new economy grant program.
• Secondly, it would provide a direct line of funding to states and localities to help alleviate their financial woes.
• Further, my bill would provide much-needed funding to our Nation's schools to protect our teachers and hire more to meet the needs of our children.
• The final piece of this bill is a direct line of funding to our national forests and national parks to address some of their many high-needs projects that have been neglected for decades.