The black caucus and the politics of summer jobs
Congress will appropriate more than $1 trillion this year, and all the Congressional Black Caucus wants is $1.3 billion. But after six months of haggling over the funding for a youth jobs program, the group is running out of time.</br></br>The 42-member CBC has pushed for months for Congress to extend funding for a youth summer jobs initiative that was created in last year's economic stimulus bill. Similar to a program in the District, the initiative gives localities money to hire young people ages 14 to 24 for clerical work, construction and other entry-level jobs that last six to eight weeks.</br></br>The funding is not specifically allocated based on race, but localities are encouraged to offer jobs to youths who are "most in need," such as high school dropouts and children whose parents are incarcerated -- groups that are disproportionately African American. The CBC hopes the funding will provide for about 300,000 jobs.</br></br>The failure to secure the money illustrates a broader challenge for the CBC. In the midst of the recession, black lawmakers and civil rights advocates have called for specific policies to aid African Americans and other low-income people. Their argument is twofold: At 16 percent, the unemployment rate among blacks is higher than for other groups, and the increase in federal spending to ease the recession could help address persistent unemployment and other long-standing problems for blacks and low-income people.</br></br>Rather than focus their efforts on President Obama, who has expressed reluctance to target funds for blacks or any other group, the CBC has tried to push measures through Congress. But as deficit concerns rise in both parties, the black lawmakers have had little success.