April 23, 2020 3:40 a.m. 
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden is calling for a new federal employment program that will help workers and businesses recover from the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
Wyden has joined with four other senators to propose a national subsidized employment program to provide unemployed and underemployed workers wage-paying jobs to help them get through this public health and economic crisis.
Wyden’s release said the subsidized employment should be a central part of efforts to help American’s transition back to work.
The release said under the plan, federal funding would go to states in order to offset employer’s costs for wages and any needed on-the-job-training and other supportive services. The program would enable states and local organizations to scale up or establish subsidized employment programs that would meet the needs of their communities. That would include directly employing subsidized workers in public assistance and infrastructure jobs. The plan calls for the program to have lasting structural features, including technical assistance to support planning and implementation.
The letter from the group said the proposal “is informed by the successful programs that states were able to get up and running quickly during the Great Recession to place individuals in a wage-paying job”.
The group asked leadership to consider the proposal.