In early February, the President released his $2.8 trillion
budget for FY2007. By and large, the budget did not
focus on addressing the needs of families. Many of the
proposed budget cuts and 141 program eliminations were
in social, educational and health programs that benefit
families. However, the President’s emphasis on research
and development, investment in science and math
education, and energy independence, were bold and
welcome ideas. Moreover, the President’s proposal to
establish Career Advancement Accounts, which could
allow up to 800,000 people annually to pay for training or
tuition costs to update their skills or develop new skills, is
a good idea. This proposal is similar to the Personal
Reemployment Account proposal the President made in
2003. However, this time the proposal is more
preventative medicine than simply reactive action. One
problem with our current workforce system of trade
adjustment assistance and unemployment insurance is that
its largely reactive—workers only have access to new
funds for training if they lose their job or the factory shuts
down. The Career Advancement Accounts would allow
workers to upgrade their training or acquire new skills
before they lose their jobs, or to allow them to change
careers or gain skills to start their own business. This
forward-looking idea is better suited for an economy
where the average worker now changes jobs on average
every five years.
For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version below.
More About the Authors
