
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 8, 1993                   TAG: 9307080109
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. GIVES MORE MONEY FOR SUMMER JOBS FUNDING AT '92 LEVEL, BELOW CLINTON PLA

The Clinton administration announced distribution of $166.5 million for additional summer youth jobs Wednesday, bringing to 700,000 the number of opportunities available to disadvantaged teen-agers.

Despite the new money, the number of jobs is just half the 1.3 million the administration had hoped to provide this year.

In his $16.3 billion economic stimulus proposal last winter, President Clinton had sought $1 billion for summer jobs in addition to the $868 million already available from previous appropriations and left over from last summer.

But the request was killed in a Republican-led Senate filibuster and Clinton had to settle for a $1 billion measure that Congress passed a week ago. That legislation included the extra $166.5 million for summer jobs.

As a result, the amount of federal funds for the program this year remained about the same as last year, the final summer of the Bush presidency.

A Labor Department survey of 40 cities in May and early June suggested that federally subsidized jobs would be available this summer for only about half of the applicants, 14 to 21 years old.

The jobs include clerical work in city offices, maintenance work for public properties, recreational work at parks, nursing assistance in hospitals and supervising and tutoring children at day-care facilities.

Labor Secretary Robert Reich appealed to private business last month to help bridge the gap. But partly because of the sluggish economy and a stagnant labor market, the private sector in many areas was unable to pick up the slack.

"The private-sector effort just fell apart in Los Angeles," said James Seeley, the city's legislative representative in Washington. "They just didn't have any jobs."

Still, Reich said Wednesday that the administration continues to seek private participation.

Funds for the Summer Youth Employment and Training Program are distributed to states according to a formula based on such factors as unemployment and poverty levels. States then allocate the money to cities and counties.

by CNB