Support Summer Youth Programs

Contact Your Members of Congress About Including Summer and Year-Round Employment & Training Funding in the Tax Extenders Bill!

On February 28, 2010 several economic safety net programs expired, including long-term unemployment insurance (UI), health care subsidies for the unemployed (COBRA), and emergency highway funding established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Senate is now working on a bill that would extend these programs through the end of 2010.  Discussions are underway to include funding for youth employment and training into legislative proposals currently under consideration. We need to move beyond discussions and take action.

What You Can Do

Contact Your Members of Congress in both the House and Senate today and urge them to include $2 billion in funding for Summer and Year-Round Youth programs into H.R. 4213, the Tax Extenders Act of 2009.  The Recovery Act youth employment programs employed over 300,000 youth in 2009 alone.  If state and communities are to replicate the success of this program in 2010, they must begin planning now.

Ask your Senators and Representatives to weigh in with:

·         Senator Susan Collins (ME)

·         Senator Olympia Snowe (ME)

·         Senator Kit Bond (MO)

·         Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK)

·         Senator Scott Brown (MA)

·         Senator George Voinovich (OH)

By following this link and typing in your zip code, you can find the name of your Congressional Member and his or her contact information for offices both in state and in Washington, D.C. 

View a list of all the House Appropriations Committee members with links to their websites and contact information here. The list of all the Senate Appropriations Committee members with links to their websites and contact info can be found here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mary Ellen Ardouny at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .