Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is starting the new Congress by reintroducing his E4 initiative aimed at fueling job creation and spurring economic development by boosting small business innovation, supporting job growth in the emerging energy sector, enhancing workforce development and connecting students and workers to new career opportunities. The E4 initiative – dubbed E4 because of its focus on economy, employment, education and energy – is also consistent with President-elect Obama’s larger efforts, and the efforts of the new Congress, to stimulate the economy through massive job creation. The E4 legislative package includes bills introduced last fall, as well as a new bill to help boost green-collar job creation by funding energy efficiency projects.
“While our country is facing its greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression, we have a tremendous opportunity to create jobs critical to addressing the challenges we face,” Feingold said. “My E4 initiative harnesses Wisconsin’s strengths to create jobs and enhance economic development. For example, Wisconsin is emerging as a leader in water technology. Nurturing this opportunity through investing in small business research could help Wisconsin become the ‘Silicon Valley’ of water technology and yield more jobs and more growth. The initiative also falls right in line with what President-elect Obama is trying to do to help lift our country’s economy by putting millions of Americans to work on infrastructure projects our country needs.”
The E4 bills Feingold will introduce include:
Boosting Small Business Innovation
Congress can do more to support small businesses which generate approximately half of our nation’s payroll jobs and most of our new employment opportunities. Feingold’s Strengthening Our Economy Through Small Business Innovation Act reauthorizes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for an additional 14 year period. It also substantially increases federal research and development funding for small businesses over a three year period. The bill would prioritize funding for small business work in energy, water, transportation and domestic security – top national priorities where Wisconsin businesses are leading.
Supporting Job Growth in the Emerging Energy Sector
Feingold’s Energy and Technology Advancement (ETA) Act helps move technologies from the research and development phase to the marketplace by connecting businesses with the federal government to test biofuels technologies, for example, thus increasing the chances of commercialization. Feingold’s ETA Act will move up the estimated time of arrival, or ETA, that energy and other technologies come to the market by promoting the federal government as a better business incubator. Feingold's bill also encourages the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which includes the Forest Service, to provide business support services, and authorizes U.S. Department of Agriculture employees and private-sector employees to work together in federal or private experimental or product facilities.
A new piece of Feingold’s E4 initiative is legislation to increase the amount of Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECBs) which are tax credit bonds designed to help states and medium to larger-sized cities pursue energy efficiency initiatives. The legislation would also expand the number of projects eligible to receive financial assistance from the QECBs and could create green-collar jobs through programs like Milwaukee’s proposed Me2 program that promotes the installation of energy efficiency upgrades in commercial and residential buildings.
Workforce Development
Feingold is introducing legislation aimed at helping Wisconsin’s strong and able workforce find jobs in existing and emerging areas of the economy while helping businesses locate these qualified workers. Feingold’s Skills Standards Certification Evaluation Act will evaluate existing skills standards certification programs and make it easier for employers and potential employees to find information about these programs. The measure requires an evaluation of current skill standard programs that have been developed with federal funding, and will use this information to streamline the programs to ensure maximum portability for workers. Feingold’s legislation will also increase access to and awareness of skill standards programs by requiring them to be posted online.
Feingold is also introducing the Job Access and Reverse Commute Program Improvement Act to tackle transportation challenges that many workers face by increasing funding for the current JARC program by $100 million over the next five years. The JARC program provides reliable transportation for low income workers giving them access to better jobs. Feingold’s bill will also streamline reporting and paperwork requirements for JARC and establish a pilot program to further evaluate possible improvements to the program.
Building New Education Partnerships
With a number of our communities confronting staggering high school dropout rates we should find ways to better engage students in learning. One way to help boost student engagement is show students how what they learn in school can lead to real-world skills and good jobs down the road. Feingold’s Connecting Education and Emerging Professions Act of 2008 (CEEP) will create partnerships to help prepare young Americans for professions in emerging industries whether they enter the workforce directly or go on to postsecondary education after high school graduation. The bill will provide competitive grants to states and school districts to form education partnerships with state, regional, and local businesses, workforce development groups, postsecondary institutions, and other non-profit groups.
The education partnership grants can be used for a number of purposes including promoting emerging industries and the skills needed to be successful in those industries, developing apprenticeships and internships, aligning new curriculums and programs with existing state academic standards and establishing professional development opportunities for educators, business partners, school counselors and others.
More information is available at http://feingold.senate.gov/e4.
