January 8, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S221 

public transportation during consideration of the highway bill and Amtrak 

reauthorizations. But my specific proposal today focuses on the latter and 

improving the Job Access and Reverse 

Commute, JARC, program that links 

low-income workers with employers. 

I have heard good things about the 

JARC program and was glad that it 

was shifted away from earmarks and 

was made available as a combination 

formula and competitively awarded 

program in the last highway bill. The 

primary program goal is to locally assess the transportation needs of low-income workers and then plan and fund 

programs to help alleviate transportation-related barriers to employment 

or better employment. While initially 

this may have been viewed as a way to 

support reverse commute projects 

whereby transit routes were established to allow city center residents to 

access jobs in the suburbs, the program 

actually does much more than just this 

and provides reliable transportation to 

low-income urban, rural and suburban 

workers. 

In Wisconsin, the Federal JARC program is jointly administered by the 

State departments of transportation 

and workforce development as the Wisconsin Employment Transportation 

Assistance Program, WETAP. According to the Wisconsin Department of 

Transportation, transportation barriers can include a lack of a dependable 

vehicle or bus service in the area, an 

absence of local jobs, or childcare 

transportation problems. The State 

agencies in Wisconsin have found several different types of projects to be effective depending on the local circumstances. These projects have included the traditional public transit 

projects such as extending bus lines or 

supporting van-pooling, along with 

other programs such as providing cars 

or car repairs to low-income individuals. Wisconsin has even found that assisting with indirect barriers such as 

transportation of children to and from 

childcare facilities is critical in allowing some individuals to improve their 

job prospects. 

A recent University of Illinois Chicago, UIC, study found that the societal benefits from this program are 

$1.65 per dollar spent and estimates 

lifetime benefits to low income participants of $15 per dollar spent due to 

their ability to find and retain better 

paying jobs. While the goals of the Job 

Access and Reverse Commute program 

are important and the program has 

been found to be fairly effective, there 

are some details that have prevented 

the program from reaching its full potential. Working closely with transportation officials in Wisconsin and partially based on recommendations from 

the UIC study, I’ve come up with some 

specific ideas to improve the program. 

With a proven effective program and 

continuing unmet needs by employers 

and low-income individuals seeking 

employment, JARC could use a boost 

in funding. So that is why my proposal 

ramps up funding by $100 million over 5 

years from the current funding of $165 

million to $265 million in fiscal year 

2014. 

My proposal would also allow the 

Federal share of projects to increase to 

80 percent from the current 50 percent 

level for operating expenses. The 50 

percent local and State match wasn’t 

feasible for far too many local governments in Wisconsin and as a result Wisconsin has not been able to spend all 

its Federal funds. The higher Federal 

cost share will better balance the need 

to leverage Federal funds, while ensuring that these critical funds are fully 

utilized—millions of dollars in an account does nothing to link people to 

jobs. 

Besides the challenge in coming up 

with a 50 percent local cost share, the 

other main issue that has kept JARC 

from being as effective as it could be is 

the paperwork and reporting burden required by the program, especially for 

the small nonprofit groups that often 

have never dealt with Federal grant requirements before. My proposal directs 

the Federal Transit Agency, FTA, to 

examine the current reporting requirements to see if there are ways to 

streamline the amount of paperwork 

required while still ensuring that the 

program goals are met. 

My bill also includes a pilot program 

funded at $10 million a year for 5 years 

in order to test a few areas that seem 

very promising, but should be evaluated more fully before broader implementation. The first portion of the 

pilot program builds off the regulatory 

streamlining evaluation and allows the 

FTA to test streamlined reporting requirements to help get the balance between oversight and administrative 

burden right. 

The second part of the pilot program 

focuses on improving education- and 

employment-related transportation for 

teens and young adults. Enabling students and young people to reliably get 

between their high schools or neighborhoods and technical colleges, job training centers or apprenticeships can have 

a lifelong positive impact. 

The third section of the pilot program would allow experimentation 

with combining different transit programs and integrating JARC projects 

across local political boundaries to 

provide a more comprehensive local 

transportation system. Instead of having one transit program to assist the 

disabled, one targeted toward the elderly and another focused on jobs, this 

pilot program would encourage funding 

combined applications to meet these 

needs together with one comprehensive 

project. There is even the potential for 

the Department of Transportation to 

further coordinate with other departments such as Health and Human Services for healthcare-related transportation. Similarly, the needs of employers for employees do not recognize 

local political boundaries, so encouraging greater collaboration between 

local entities to make a more robust 

interconnected system should ultimately provide more efficient and effective service. 

While the FTA already provides some 

technical assistance for the JARC program, my proposal provides a small 

boost in funding and some additional 

areas of emphasis. For example, after 

hearing about the struggles that some 

small nonprofits have with the reporting requirements, in addition to looking for ways to streamline the requirements, my proposal would direct the 

FTA to also provide some technical assistance especially targeted to this 

need. 

The final element of my proposal is 

the offset. The new spending authorized in the proposal is fully offset by 

rescinding highway and bridge earmarks that have not had funds spent 

from them despite being authorized 

over a decade ago as part of the TEA– 

21 highway bill. Helping connect workers and employers is a much better use 

of these funds than letting them sit unused in some obscure DOT account. 

Providing reliable transportation to 

low-income individuals only goes so 

far—it is the companies and innovators 

creating the jobs and the individuals 

seeking to better their lot through education or more challenging employment, that are doing the heavy lifting. 

That being said, transportation can 

clearly be a challenge for companies 

and workers and in the case of the 

JARC program can play an important 

supporting role. 

By Mr. FEINGOLD: 

S. 177. A bill to amend the Small 

Business Act to extend the Small Business Innovation Research and Small 

Business Technology Transfer programs, to increase the allocation of 

Federal agency grants for these programs, to add water, energy, transportation, and domestic security related 

research to the list of topics deserving 

special consideration, and for other 

purposes; to the Committee on Small 

Business and Entrepreneurship. 

Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, we 

are all aware of the serious challenges 

our economy faces in the short term 

and the urgency of our need to promote 

job creation and economic development. I am committed to engaging in 

this broad effort with my colleagues on 

both sides of the aisle. But it is essential that our efforts not just be short 

term fixes—they must not only aim to 

create jobs and investment opportunities in the short term, they must be 

part of strategic efforts to strengthen 

our Nation’s innovation capabilities 

and sustain long term economic development in a changing and competitive 

global environment. There is no better 

way to do this than by stimulating and 

supporting small business innovation, 

especially in areas of national priority. 

As part of this effort, today I am introducing the Strengthening Our Economy Through Small Business Innovation Act of 2009. 

Job growth, innovation and economic 

development are driven by our small 


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S222 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 8, 2009 

businesses. Small businesses also tend 

to be based in our cities and communities and so they are major contributors to our local economies. Half of our 

county’s payroll jobs and most of our 

new job opportunities are provided by 

small businesses. Small businesses are 

proven innovators and drive commercialization of cutting edge technologies. Not only are small businesses 

our major source of employment, they 

employ about one third of our country’s scientists and engineers and generate more patents on a per capita 

basis than large businesses and universities. They also are effective partners 

with universities to enhance product 

creation, develop university income 

and attract university graduates and 

faculty through increased innovative 

job opportunities. 

Over the last 25 years, through the 

Small Business Innovation and Research program, SBIR, and, more recently, the Small Business Technology 

Transfer program, STTR, up to 2.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, of 

Federal R&D funds from 11 Federal 

agencies have been specifically allocated to our Nation’s small businesses 

to fund innovation. These small business allocations are not sufficient. We 

must diversify and strengthen innovation capabilities and our economic 

base, and to accomplish this we must 

extend and increase R&D allocations to 

our Nation’s innovative small businesses. 

My bill does 3 things. First, it extends the SBIR and STTR programs for 

a further 14 years so that small businesses, as well as universities and nonprofit research organizations that collaborate with small businesses, can 

continue to leverage Federal research 

and development funding. 

Second, it significantly increases the 

allocation of funds and the awards 

from large Federal research and development budgets to small businesses 

through the SBIR and STTR programs. 

It would increase the SBIR allocation 

from its current 2.5 percent to 10 percent and the STTR allocation from 0.3 

percent to 1.0 percent over a 3-year period. It would increase SBIR phase I 

awards from $100,000 to $300,000 and 

phase II awards from $750,000 to $2.2 

million. Third, it identifies specific 

funding priorities for energy innovation; safe and secure water; domestic 

security; and transportation. 

The SBIR program is tested, successful and worthy of extension. In its comprehensive study of the SBIR program, 

the National Research Council found 

that the program ‘‘is sound in concept 

and effective in practice’’; was ‘‘stimulating technological innovation’’; 

‘‘linking universities to the public and 

private markets’’; ‘‘increasing private 

sector commercialization of innovations’’ at an ‘‘impressive’’ rate; and 

‘‘providing widely distributed support 

for innovation activity.’’ The study 

concluded that: 

[T]he program is proving effective in meeting Congressional objectives. It is increasing 

innovation, encouraging participation by 

small companies in R&D, providing support 

for small firms owned by minorities and 

women, and resolving research questions for 

mission agencies in a cost effective manner. 

Should the Congress wish to provide additional funds for the program in support of 

these objectives, those funds could be employed effectively by the nation’s SBIR. 

The NRC’s study also found that universities and other non-profit research 

institutions would benefit significantly 

from the increase in both the SBIR and 

the STTR programs. In particular, the 

STTR allocation increase will directly 

benefit universities and efforts to bring 

university-based research into the 

commercial marketplace, as a partnership with a non-profit research institution, such as a university, is a requirement of all STTR award recipients. 

Many of the small businesses that receive SBIR funding are rooted in the 

university infrastructure so investigators and graduates from universities 

will have opportunities to be part of 

commercial developments. More than 

two-thirds of SBIR companies report 

that at least one founder was previously an academic. About one-third 

of SBIR company founders were most 

recently employed as academics before 

founding the company. Over a third of 

SBIR projects cite direct university involvement with 27 percent of projects 

having university faculty as contractors on the project, 17 percent using 

universities themselves as subcontractors, and 15 percent employing graduate students. 

In its report accompanying reauthorization legislation, the Senate Small 

Business and Entrepreneurship Committee recently concluded that: 

increases in the SBIR allocation will invest 

money in research, contracting, internships, 

and other collaborative activities done with 

universities, with the contracting and patenting activities with SBIR companies being 

a sizable source of revenue for universities as 

well. The university-industry partnerships 

that SBIR creates are crucial in that they 

provide an applied research and commercialization focus that otherwise likely would 

not be present in university research. More 

specifically, the partnerships are important 

in exposing faculty and the next generation 

of scientists and engineers to commercial research and development. SBIR businesses 

provide graduate and undergraduate students with hands-on experience and job opportunities that universities would be unable 

to provide alone. 

Our country not only faces immediate economic and employment challenges, it faces major challenges in 

transportation, energy, domestic security and water quality and safety. Targeted research and development will be 

critical. Congress, with non-partisan 

expert guidance, has a role to play in 

guiding our national research and development priorities and, in this case, 

stimulating small business innovation 

and job creation in specific areas of 

critical national need. The National 

Academies of Science and other independent government research organizations provide us with carefully researched and considered recommendations on how we can address these priorities, so my bill draws on their recommendations to develop innovative 

energy technologies; enhance water 

quality and security; strengthen domestic security; and address transportation priorities. This is not only a 

good investment in short term job creation; it is an imperative investment in 

our Nation’s long term innovation 

prospects and economic development. 

The costs of my bill would be fully 

offset by cancellation of the airborne 

laser program. CBO estimates that cancelling that program will produce savings of over $2.6 billion. 

By Mr. FEINGOLD: 

S. 178. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965 to authorize a connecting education and emerging professions demonstration grant program; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions. 

Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, as the 

111th Congress begins, I am reintroducing a number of different bills designed to fuel job creation and spur 

economic development. My initiative, 

dubbed E4 because of its focus on economy, employment, education, and energy, seeks to respond to economic and 

job development needs both in my 

State of Wisconsin and around the 

country. These challenging economic 

times call for a comprehensive set of 

solutions including providing new job 

training opportunities for workers, fostering innovation among small businesses, protecting the existing familysupporting jobs in our nation, and 

boosting educational opportunities for 

young Americans. Today I am introducing the Connecting Education and 

Emerging Professions Act of 2009, 

which provides competitive grants to 

States and local school districts to promote better collaboration between 

high schools and local businesses and 

workforce development groups. This E4 

education initiative is designed to help 

prepare America’s students for future 

success in the workforce and post-secondary education as well as enhance 

America’s competitiveness in the global economy as we prepare to enter the 

second decade of the twenty-first century. 

Helping to ensure that all American 

students have access to a high-quality 

education is critical to boosting America’s competitiveness and helping to 

ensure that our country is better 

equipped to respond to the economic 

challenges currently before us. Investment in our young people now will pay 

off in the future when these individuals 

are better prepared to compete for the 

highly skilled jobs of tomorrow. If the 

United States is to remain competitive 

on an international stage and continue 

to lead the world in innovation and development, we need to make certain 

that our young people are well prepared to meet current and future economic challenges. 

Improving educational opportunities 

in the United States is going to require 


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