Assistance programs set to end

Staff report

Two federal programs that have offered assistance to thousands of Ohio workers are set to expire Saturday.

Trade Adjustment Assistance and The Health Coverage Tax Credit aid workers who have lost their jobs to foreign competition.

Trade Adjustment Assistance provides training, educational assistance and support for workers to develop new job skills.

About 32,000 Ohioans have qualified for TAA since May 2009.

Meanwhile, the Health Coverage Tax Credit has helped more than 50,000 workers and retirees obtain private insurance after they lost their employee-sponsored insurance coverage.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, has worked on passing an extension of the programs, as has U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

“I’m really upset about it,” Ryan said. “It’s leaving a lot of people hanging out there.”

Brown appeared on the Senate floor Thursday asking for votes to pass an extension.

Without the extension, workers and retirees, such as the former employees of the Warren-area Delphi plants, will lose their ben-efits under the program.

“I’ve heard from hundreds of retirees at Delphi still struggling to regain their footing after their pensions and health-care benefits vanished into thin air. Without the Health Care Tax Credit, many trade-affected workers and retirees might not be able to afford health coverage,” Brown said in a press release.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, also expressed disappointment that the programs could lapse.

“I remain committed to these workers and doing all that I can in order to ensure that they receive the benefits they need during tough economic times,” Portman said in a press release.