TANF Emergency Fund and State Jobs Programs

Subsidized jobs: A faint echo of the New Deal, By Christine Vestal, June 18, 2010, Stateline.org: “In rural Winston County, Mississippi, Taylor Machine Works – best known for its Big Red forklifts – is the primary employer. After the recession hit in late 2008, the company shed nearly 200 of its 500 jobs and would not be rehiring anyone now if it weren’t for a subsidized employment program Mississippi launched with the help of federal stimulus money. Nationwide, 32 states are tapping into a $5 billion emergency fund under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare-to-work program – to help small businesses, nonprofits and public hospitals hire and train unemployed workers at a time when few organizations are ready to take on the added cost. This is not exactly the Works Progress Administration. During the Great Depression, the federal government subsidized employment for more than 8.5 million jobless workers under the WPA. Although maligned for its massive cost and the fact that millions of workers were collecting paychecks directly from the federal government, others credited the New Deal jobs program with returning dignity and hope to millions of American families…”