Momentum Builds to Reach Program's Goal of 15,000 Jobs

CHICAGO - May 3, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today announced that 349 employers across the state have agreed to employ more than 2,825 workers through the Quinn Administration's Put Illinois to Work (PIW) employment program, which was launched only a week ago.

At that time, Governor Quinn unveiled the PIW program, an anti-poverty effort designed to develop a healthy workforce by putting unemployed and underemployed Illinois residents to work. Put Illinois to Work is expected to create more than 15,000 jobs.

"The response by employers and workers has been tremendous, and the momentum is building toward creating more good-paying jobs that can support families and communities," said Governor Quinn. "Already, 349 employers across Illinois have signed on to Put Illinois to Work and committed to employing 2,825 people. I encourage businesses and residents across the state to visit PutIllinoistoWork.Illinois.gov and fill out an application."

Through Put Illinois to Work, eligible Illinois residents will be placed in subsidized employment positions with participating worksites for up to six months, learning valuable skills and supporting their families. The program will help stimulate Illinois' ailing economy and develop a healthy workforce by providing meaningful work experience for participants.

The Put Illinois to Work program was recently profiled in a story appearing last Sunday in the New York Times, which noted the program is designed to deal with the current economic emergency by allowing employers to create jobs for members of low-income families and single mothers immediately throughout the state.

Private, public and non-profit businesses are encouraged to sign on with Put Illinois to Work. Eligible participants will be matched to subsidized employment opportunities with these worksites in hopes that they might transition into an unsubsidized position at the program's conclusion.

Put Illinois to Work is a collaborative effort of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and Heartland Human Care Services (HHCS). Funding is provided through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF), which was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

Eligible worksites and participants must meet program criteria and agree to adhere to specific programmatic requirements. Participants must be age 18-21, or 18 and older and the parent (custodial or non-custodial) of a minor child. All participants must have a household income below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($2,428 per month for a family of two) and be legally present and authorized to work.

For eligibility criteria and additional information on Put Illinois to Work, visit www.PutIllinoistoWork.Illinois.gov.

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We would like to announce the promotion of Geoff Pearson to Business Development Manager for Ryder Transportation.

Geoff is a graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Geoff will be covering the eastern Iowa market. Geoff started his career at Ryder as a Rental Manager Trainee in 2006 and most recently held the position of Rental Account Manager. Geoff has been in the Iowa market since 2007, and will be selling Ryder Transportation solutions for business to business opportunities effective May 1st.

Ryder specializes in a wide range of fleet management services, including full service truck leasing; commercial truck lease financing combined with programmed maintenance, onsite and programmed fleet maintenance, truck rental and a comprehensive network of fuel services.

For more information, contact Geoff at the Ryder location in Davenport, Iowa at 563-386-8000.

WASHINGTON - April 28, 2010 - Senator Chuck Grassley today continued to peel back the layers of taxpayer obligations behind last week's claim and fanfare about General Motors repaying its multi-billion dollar loan from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $700 billion taxpayer-funded bailout.

Last week, Grassley asked the Treasury Secretary why the administration had allowed GM to use money from an escrow account at Treasury to repay this loan, allowing "an elaborate TARP money shuffle."

In a floor speech this afternoon, Grassley said the response he received today from the Treasury Department confirmed that taxpayers funded the loan repayment by way of cash that GM has because the federal government originally loaned that cash to GM, and then the federal government agreed to forgive some of GM's debt during bankruptcy in exchange for stock in the company, the value of which is uncertain.

"The bottom line is that the repayment was made on the dime of taxpayers across America, and it's misleading to say that GM repaid its TARP loans 'in full, with interest, ahead of schedule, because more customers are buying' GM cars," Grassley said.  "Taxpayers remain on the hook, thanks to the failed deal cut by the government to try to save GM from bankruptcy.  Now, GM has pulled an additional $6.6 billion out of the escrow account but has left unpaid a $2.5 billion, nine-percent loan to the union health benefit fund."

Here is the April 19, 2010, request from GM to the Treasury Department asking for the distribution to GM of the entire amount of the reserve funds. 

Grassley said the American people deserve straightforward information about what's happening with TARP and the tax dollars being used by the Treasury Department to manage what the government has taken over from the private sector.  "The situation hasn't been described in a candid way, and that's added insult to injury after more than a year of bailouts and record-level deficit spending."

Grassley has conducted oversight of the Treasury Department's management of TARP and gone to bat for the Special Inspector General for TARP when the administration has put up barriers to the Inspector General determining where the money has gone.  The Iowa senator has criticized the lack of transparency with how TARP funds have been used and, last fall, he cosponsored legislation to end the program.

The Special Inspector General for TARP was created at the urging of Grassley and Senator Max Baucus of Montana, and when the Treasury Department changed the focus of the program less than a month after it began, Grassley worked with Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri to retool the Inspector General's authority and empower the office to adequately scrutinize TARP spending and management.

Here is the text of Grassley's remarks today.

Floor Statement of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

GM and TARP

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Mr. President.  Last Thursday, I wrote Secretary Geithner asking why the Treasury Department allowed General Motors to use TARP money from a Treasury escrow account to repay its multi-billion dollar TARP taxpayer loan.  This afternoon, I received a response from Treasury.  I'd like to say a few words about the reply and the questions that remain unanswered.  Last week, Treasury and GM announced with press releases and nationwide TV commercials that GM had repaid its TARP loans "in full, with interest, ahead of schedule, because more customers are buying [GM vehicles]."

However, the hype does not match the reality.  Taxpayers have not been repaid in full?far from it.  Many billions of TARP dollars remain invested by Treasury in GM, and much of it will never be repaid.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that taxpayers will lose around $30 billion on GM.  In addition, the payment that occurred last week did not come from revenue GM earned by selling cars, despite what was claimed.  Instead, Treasury allowed GM to use funds in a separate escrow account to pay its TARP debt.  The Treasury Department's response to me today makes a point of saying that GM "owns" the money in the escrow account, as if that somehow justifies all the hoopla about GM's so-called "repayment."

Well, let's look at how GM came to "own" those escrow funds in the first place.  The escrow funds were part of the TARP money Treasury paid for GM stock coming out of the bankruptcy.  The money was supposed to be used by GM for expenses, as Treasury concedes.  Treasury had the power to approve or disapprove GM's use of the money to repay the TARP taxpayer loan.  Treasury approved, and GM pretended it was paying the loan back from revenue because business had improved.  Business may have improved, but that's not how they paid the loan.  Taking TARP money out of one account to pay back TARP loans in another account is not at all the same as paying off a loan with earnings, as GM's TV commercials imply they have done.  That is why I called it "an elaborate TARP money shuffle" and nothing in Treasury's reply today changes that.

The public would know nothing about the TARP escrow money being the source of the supposed repayment from simply watching GM's TV commercials or reading Treasury's press release.  Treasury's letter today says all these details are public knowledge and nothing new.  Well, that may be technically correct, but it wasn't clearly communicated that way to the average citizen.  Most Americans don't pore through SEC filings and Special Inspector General's reports.

The GM commercial also did not mention that GM could have used the TARP escrow funds to repay a $2.5 billion, nine-percent loan it received from its union health plan as part of the bankruptcy process.  The union loan runs until 2017.  The TARP loan was at seven percent and ran until 2015.  What sort of money manager would advise you to pay off a lower interest loan before a higher interest loan?  GM and Treasury have still not explained that, and I have asked the TARP watchdog, Special Inspector Neil Barofsky, to get to the bottom of it.  And to make matters worse, Treasury has admitted that it let GM take an additional $6.6 billion of TARP dollars out of the escrow fund last week with no strings attached.  That money, too, could have been used to repay the high interest union loan.

There are reports that GM also applied to the Department of Energy for a $10 billion, five-percent loan to retool its plants to meet fuel economy standards.  GM seems to be using government money to pay back government money, and then asking for more government money at a lower interest rate.  It sounds like a plan to refinance GM's government debt with more taxpayer money--not pay it back.

GM had to ask permission from Treasury to use the taxpayers' stock investment to pay off the taxpayers' loan. Treasury's response to my letter says that "Treasury retained approval rights over GMs use of funds from the escrow account in order to protect the taxpayer."  Well, why didn't they protect the taxpayer then?  Why would Treasury allow GM to use its equity investment to pay off the loan when it means giving up the legal right to a seven percent rate of return for the taxpayers in exchange for essentially nothing?  Since the taxpayer has an equity stake in the company, it's true that future growth of GM could theoretically make taxpayers whole, but taxpayers already had that equity interest before this latest transaction and didn't get any more equity as a result of the transaction.

Another key question is why would GM orchestrate a major media campaign to make the public think this all represents some big accomplishment by GM when the truth is that the taxpayers are still on the hook for billions that we may never recover?  Using the taxpayers' stock investment in GM to reduce its debt to the taxpayers is not the same as repaying that debt from money actually earned by selling cars.  Treasury's reply today does not explain why it approved this transaction.  Maybe it's a step in the right direction, maybe not.  But, instead of misleading the American people, we should be clear and up front about what happened here.

(QUAD CITIES) - The Network: Young Professionals of the Quad Cities, a program of the Illinois and Iowa QC Chambers of Commerce, will be hosting the i.network program in the Quad Cities for the second summer.

i.network is a program developed by young professionals for young professionals to showcase all the Quad Cities region has to offer beyond the four walls of the workplace. i.network targets young professional interns from all over the United States whom are interning in the Quad Cities during the summer months. The overall goal of the program is to retain young talent in the Quad Cities upon their graduation from college.

The i.network program has teamed up with the Illinois and Iowa QC Chambers and www.quadcitycareers.com to provide a newly enhanced summer program.  The program now includes information on how local companies can start an internship program, opportunities to recruit young talent from the Quad Cities and outside regions as well as affordable housing options for the interns during the summer.

For more information on the i.network program, starting an internship program, recruiting interns or housing options; visit www.quadcitycareers.com.

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