NFIB

House Passes Back to Work Incentive Act
06/04/2004

The House Thursday passed legislation to create Personal Reemployment Accounts (PRAs), offering an alternative to weekly unemployment checks for jobless persons.

Under the newly-passed legislation, qualified job searchers receive up to $3,000 in a "re-employment account," which could be used for education, training programs, child care, transportation or any approved costs associated with a job hunt.

Should the job seeker get hired within 13 weeks of opening his reemployment account, he will be able to keep any cash balance left in the account.

President Bush commended the House on the passage of the bill and urges the Senate to do the same.

"Personal Reemployment Accounts are an important reform in federal job training, because workers decide how to use the funds to maximize their likelihood of securing a job," Bush said. "(Through this legislation) we can help every American who wants to work find a job."