Summary: A proposed Department of Labor re-employment assistance program would target workers who lose their jobs as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)--either through rising imports or through plant relocations to Canada and Mexico. The proposed program basically replicates the existing Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program but sets new eligibility criteria for NAFTA-affected workers and changes the certification process. The proposed bridge program to help NAFTA-affected workers, however, suffers from many of the same shortcomings that have plagued TAA. GAO questions two major changes that the bridge proposal makes to the basic TAA approach. First, changes to expedite the certification process would require Labor to complete a TAA certification in 30 days, a task that has previously taken 60 days. Second, although eliminating the training waiver allowed under TAA is a positive step, other services, such as job search assistance, should be included as allowable training activities for receiving income support assistance. If NAFTA is passed, Labor should address these concerns as it develops the implementing regulations.
