H.R. 1088: Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-02-25 · Foreign Trade and International Finance · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2015-02-25 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2015

Plain summary

Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2015 Amends the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 to repeal the declaration that trade adjustment assistance (TAA) program requirements in effect as of February 13, 2011, under the Trade Act of 1974 shall apply to petitions for certification to apply for TAA for workers, firms, and farmers that are filed before January 1, 2014. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend through December 31, 2020: (1) the TAA program, and (2) the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program. Makes funds available through FY2020, and for the period beginning October 1-December 31, 2020 (first quarter of FY2021), for training of adversely affected workers, employment and case management services, and job search expenses and relocation expenses. Reauthorizes appropriations: (1) through December 31, 2020, for the TAA program for workers; and (2) through FY2020, and for the first quarter of FY2021, for the TAA program for firms, communities, and farmers. Prescribes TAA eligibility requirements for adversely affected workers in public agencies. Revises trade readjustment allowance (TRA) program requirements. Increases from 65 to 78 additional weeks of TRA payments in a 91-week period the length of additional time permissible to complete training. Repeals the authority of a state to use funds for employment and case management services and relocation allowances to allow an adversely affected worker who is certified to file an application for a job search allowance and relocation allowance. (Continues to authorize adversely affected workers to apply for the job search allowance as well as the relocation allowance.) Increases from $1,250 to $1,500 the maximum job search allowance and maximum relocation allowance that may be granted to an adversely affected worker. Revises the reemployment trade adjustment assistance (RTAA) program. Increases from: (1) $50,000 to $55,000 the maximum amount an RTAA-eligible worker may earn in wages from reemployment, and (2) $10,000 to $12,000 the maximum payment of RTAA (or wage subsidy) to an eligible older worker. Specifies criteria the Secretary must use to determine the eligibility of workers to apply for TAA if no determination has been made, upon enactment of this Act, as to whether to certify a group of workers or firms as eligible pursuant to a petition filed between January 1, 2014, and enactment of this Act. Requires the Secretary to reconsider any determination made before enactment of this Act not to certify such workers or firms, and to certify them as eligible if they meet the specified requirements. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through calendar 2021, and increase from 72.5% to 80%, the tax credit for the health insurance coverage costs of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) pension and TAA recipients and their dependents. Amends the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Public Health Service Act to extend through December 31, 2020, the TAA pre-certification period rule disregarding, for a specified period, any 63-day lapse in creditable health care coverage for TAA workers. Extends also through December 31, 2020, the continued eligibility of certain qualified TAA-eligible individuals and PBGC pension recipients for COBRA premium assistance.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] · 52 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA), Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA), William R. Keating (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rick Larsen (D-WA), John B. Larson (D-CT), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Terri A. Sewell (D-AL), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), James A. Himes (D-CT), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA), John Garamendi (D-CA)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] reported raising $2.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (4)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114hr1088.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/hr>

Record fed-us-cong114-hr1088 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114