Terri Sewell files bill to help low income workers get training
By 2030, as many as 375 million workers — or approximately 14 percent of the global workforce — may need to learn new skills or switch occupational categories as automatization and digitization continues to grow, according to a 2017 report from McKinsey Global Institute. The World Economic Forum speeds up that timeline in their estimates. They say by 2020, more than one-third of the core skill sets of most jobs will be skills that are not considered crucial to today’s workforce But the change of priority skills doesn’t have to equate layoffs and unemployment. At least not if Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell has anything to say about it. On Monday, Sewell, along with Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), introduced the Lifelong Learning and Training Account Act, which would create a tax-preferred savings account with a generous government match to assist low and moderate-income workers seeking to retrain or upskill over the course of their careers. “If we want to grow our economy and create better jobs for American families, we have to invest in our nation’s number one asset – our workforce,” said Sewell. “That means providing our workers with opportunities to learn new skills and transition into competitive jobs in a changing economy. The Lifelong Learning and Training Account Act gives working families the tools they need to save for retraining and continuing education over the course of their careers. For workers in Alabama’s 7th District and across the country, today’s bill represents a step forward in our fight for better jobs, better pay, and a better future for our families.” The Lifelong Learning and Training Account Act would give workers a portable, government-matched savings vehicle for lifelong learning so they can continue to work and provide for their families. Contributions to an LLTA by low-to-moderate income workers or their employers are eligible for a dollar-for-dollar federal match of up to $1,000. The federal matching funds are directly deposited into the LLTA immediately after the contribution by the worker or employer. The worker then gets to choose how to use the LLTA funds, which can be applied towards any training that leads to a recognized post-secondary credential. “As our economy continues to change, workers must have access to the opportunities of tomorrow,” asserted DelBene. “Right now, many hardworking Americans don’t have the skillsets to transition into a new job. This legislation will give those folks the tools to retrain and learn new skills so they can keep up with advances in technology and earn a good-paying job. Investing in these workers and helping them further their educations will yield benefits that help middle-class families thrive.” Virginia U.S. Sen. Mark Warner introduced a companion bill. “By 2030, up to one-third of American workers will need to retrain or change jobs to keep up with disruptions due to automation and a changing economy. That means lifelong learning will be the new normal for millions of Americans,” added Warner. “The Lifelong Learning and Training Account Act represents the first major investment towards helping workers pay for the education and training necessary to modernize their skills, and I’m pleased that this important legislation is moving forward in the House of Representatives.”
Donald Trump’s White House in search of new chief of staff
President Donald Trump is considering at least four people to serve as his next chief of staff, after plans for an orderly succession for departing John Kelly fell through. The high-profile hiring search comes at a pivotal time as the Republican president looks to prepare his White House for the twin challenges of securing his re-election and fending off expected congressional investigations once Democrats gain control of the House next year. Trump’s top pick for the job, Nick Ayers, announced Sunday that he would instead be leaving the White House, surprising even senior staffers who believed the move was a done deal. Trump is now soliciting input on at least four people, including Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Ayers, who is chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, was seen as the favorite for the job when Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would leave around year’s end. But a White House official said Sunday that Trump and Ayers could not reach agreement on Ayers’ length of service and that he would instead assist the president from outside the administration. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matters. Ayers confirmed the decision in a tweet Sunday, thanking Trump and Pence for giving him the opportunity to work in the White House. “I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause,” he said. Trump offered his own take on the development: “I am in the process of interviewing some really great people for the position of White House Chief of Staff. Fake News has been saying with certainty it was Nick Ayers, a spectacular person who will always be with our #MAGA agenda. I will be making a decision soon!” Even senior White House officials were caught off guard Sunday by the news of Ayers’ departure. No obvious successor to Kelly was in sight, and there was some fretting that Trump may not be able to fill the job by the time Kelly leaves. Ayers and Trump had discussed the job for months, making the breakdown Sunday all the more surprising. Trump said Saturday that he expected to announce a replacement for Kelly in a day or two. But with Ayers no longer waiting in the wings, Trump may now take until the end of the year, according to a person close to the president. And it remains unclear who wants the job. Mulvaney, the budget director, was not interested in becoming chief of staff, according to a person close to him who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mulvaney has been saying for almost two months now that he would be more interested in becoming commerce or treasury secretary if that would be helpful to the president, the person said. Also among those thought to be in the mix were Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who said in a CBS interview that he hadn’t spoken to anyone at the White House about the job and was “entirely focused” on his position. The White House official said that, while the president likes Lighthizer, he is reluctant to move him from his current post because of the ongoing high-stakes trade negotiations with China and others. And a person familiar with Mnuchin’s thinking said he, too, was happy with his work at Treasury and had not sought the job of chief of staff. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Trump’s former deputy campaign manager David Bossie were also among the names being floated by some close to the White House Sunday. Trump’s administration has set records for staff turnover, and he has often struggled to attract experienced political professionals, a challenge that has grown more difficult by the upcoming threat of costly Democratic oversight investigations and an uncertain political environment. Democrats, who will be assuming control of the House of Representatives next year, are expected to take full advantage of their new subpoena power to investigate everything from the actions of Trump administration officials to the president’s business dealings, flooding the White House with inquiries. In any administration, the role of White House chief of staff is split between the responsibilities of supervising the White House and managing the man sitting in the Oval Office. Striking that balance in the turbulent times of Trump has bedeviled Kelly and his predecessor, Reince Priebus, and will be the defining challenge for whoever is selected next. Kelly, whose last day on the job is set to be Jan. 2, had been credited with imposing order on a chaotic West Wing after his arrival in June 2017 from his post as homeland security secretary. But his iron fist also alienated some longtime Trump allies, and over time he grew increasingly isolated. Trump wants his next chief of staff to hold the job through the 2020 election, the officials said. Ayers, who has young triplets, had long planned to leave the administration at the end of the year and had only agreed to serve in an interim basis through next spring. Ayers had earned the backing of the president’s influential daughter and son-in-law, White House advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, but was viewed warily by other aides. Ayers will run a pro-Trump super PAC, according to a person familiar with his plans but not authorized to discuss them by name. Pence’s deputy chief of staff, Jarrod Agen, is expected to assume Ayers’ role for the vice president. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Legislative orientation begins this week in Montgomery
Members of the Alabama Legislature will be in Montgomery this week for legislative orientation ahead of the 2019 session. During the three-day orientation, spanning Tuesday through Thursday, new and veteran state legislators will get a crash course on how the Legislature operates from committee meetings to parliamentary procedure to how to file a bill, and even rules on ethics. Between both chambers, new office-holders in both parties represent 42 of the 140 seats. The 2019 organization sessions begins January 8. The regular legislative session begins March 5.
Bradley Byrne: The light and life of President George H.W. Bush
Our nation came together last week as we mourned the loss of a truly great American. No matter our race, religion, creed, or political party, we were drawn toward the light that was President George H.W. Bush. His life spanned nearly one hundred years of American history and was dedicated to serving the United States. History often records the works of great leaders. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill all led with a sense of service and devotion to their people. But what makes a leader truly special is humility, humor, and a deep moral code guiding their every day. President Bush embodied those very attributes. His biographer, Jon Meacham, summed up the Bush life code best in his eulogy: “Tell the truth. Don’t blame people. Be strong. Do your best. Try hard. Forgive. Stay the course.” In every walk of life, President Bush did just those things. Integrity guided everything he undertook, and his lifetime of achievements testify to this. He was a decorated war hero in the Navy during WWII, an extremely successful businessman in Texas, Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the U.S. Liaison to the People’s Republic of China, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Vice President, and President of the United States of America. His sense of humor was always charming, sometimes teasing, but never out of malice or needling. He knew how to tell and take a good joke, and he loved to make people laugh. He took everything he did seriously and with dignity. His first and foremost goal was to serve the American people to the best of his ability and let the thousand points of light in our communities shine bright by one small act of kindness and devotion to each other at a time. In his inaugural address, President Bush emphasized this point: “What do we want the men and women who work with us to say when we are no longer there? That we were more driven to succeed than anyone around us? Or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better, and stayed a moment there to trade a word of friendship?” Since his presidency, George H.W. Bush has remained an example of leadership. For him, it was never about accolades as much as it was about service to the American people. He was the brightest of those thousand points of light in everything he did. The light that shone through him came from his devotion to his country, to his family, and to God. I had the honor to pay my respects to President Bush in the Capitol Rotunda and attend the funeral service held in the National Cathedral last week. It was the most moving church service I have ever attended. The testimony shared by everyone there spoke to a life well lived and firmly grounded. He loved life and loved the people he spent it with. As his son, President George W. Bush, said at the service, “The idea is to die young as late as possible. … As he aged, he taught us how to grow old with dignity, humor and kindness. And, when the good Lord finally called, how to meet Him with courage and with joy in the promise of what lies ahead.” President George H.W. Bush will be remembered as a true American leader: someone who served totally, cared deeply, laughed fully, and loved completely. As we move on to the New Year, I hope that in some small way we can embody just a small measure of those traits. If we do, one can only imagine how much brighter the light of our nation will shine. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
Top House Dems raise prospect of impeachment, jail for Donald Trump
Top House Democrats have raised the prospect of impeachment or the real possibility of prison time for President Donald Trump if it’s proved that he directed illegal hush money payments to women, adding to the legal pressure on the president over the Russia investigation and other scandals. “There’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him, that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, the incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee. “The bigger pardon question may come down the road as the next president has to determine whether to pardon Donald Trump.” Rep. Jerry Nadler, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, described the details in prosecutors’ filings Friday in the case of Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as evidence that Trump was “at the center of a massive fraud.” “They would be impeachable offenses,” Nadler said. In the filings, prosecutors in New York for the first time link Trump to a federal crime of illegal payments to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller‘s office also laid out previously undisclosed contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries and suggested the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Trump and his Republican campaign by playing to both his political and personal business interests. Trump has denied wrongdoing and has compared the investigations to a “witch hunt.” Nadler, D-N.Y., said it was too early to say whether Congress would pursue impeachment proceedings based on the illegal payments alone because lawmakers would need to weigh the gravity of the offense to justify “overturning” the 2016 election. Nadler and other lawmakers said Sunday they would await additional details from Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with the Trump campaign to determine the extent of Trump’s misconduct. Regarding the illegal payments, “whether they are important enough to justify an impeachment is a different question, but certainly they’d be impeachable offenses because even though they were committed before the president became president, they were committed in the service of fraudulently obtaining the office,” Nadler said. Mueller has not said when he will complete a report of any findings, and it isn’t clear that any such report would be made available to Congress. That would be up to the attorney general. Trump on Friday said he would nominate former Attorney General William Barr to the post to succeed Jeff Sessions. Nadler indicated that Democrats, who will control the House in January, will step up their own investigations. He said Congress, the Justice Department and the special counsel need to dig deeper into the allegations, which include questions about whether Trump lied about his business arrangements with Russians and about possible obstruction of justice. “The new Congress will not try to shield the president,” he said. “We will try to get to the bottom of this, in order to serve the American people and to stop this massive conspiracy — this massive fraud on the American people.” Schiff, D-Calif., also stressed a need to wait “until we see the full picture.” He has previously indicated his panel would seek to look into the Trump family’s business ties with Russia. “I think we also need to see this as a part of a broader pattern of potential misconduct by the president, and it’s that broad pattern, I think, that will lead us to a conclusion about whether it rises to the level to warrant removal from office,” Schiff said. In the legal filings, the Justice Department stopped short of accusing Trump of directly committing a crime. But it said Trump told Cohen to make illegal payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed to have had affairs with Trump more than a decade ago. In separate filings, Mueller’s team detail how Cohen spoke to a Russian who “claimed to be a ‘trusted person’ in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign ‘political synergy’ and ‘synergy on a government level.’” Cohen said he never followed up on that meeting. Mueller’s team also said former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials, including in 2018. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida called the latest filings “relevant” in judging Trump’s fitness for office but said lawmakers need more information to render judgment. He also warned the White House about considering a pardon for Manafort, saying such a step could trigger congressional debate about limiting a president’s pardon powers. Such a move would be “a terrible mistake,” Rubio said. “Pardons should be used judiciously. They’re used for cases with extraordinary circumstances.” Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine and a member of the Senate intelligence committee, cautioned against a rush to impeachment, which he said citizens could interpret as “political revenge and a coup against the president.” “The best way to solve a problem like this, to me, is elections,” King said. “I’m a conservative when it comes to impeachment. I think it’s a last resort and only when the evidence is clear of a really substantial legal violation. We may get there, but we’re not there now.” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut urged Mueller to “show his cards soon” so that Congress can make a determination early next year on whether to act on impeachment. “Let’s be clear: We have reached a new level in the investigation,” Murphy said. “It’s important for Congress to get all of the underlying facts and data and evidence that the special counsel has.” Nadler spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Rubio was on CNN and ABC’s “This Week,” and Schiff appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Murphy spoke on ABC, and King was on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
