WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice is calling for eligible communities in New York’s fourth congressional district to be designated as Opportunity Zones, which will incentivize long-term investment of private capital in low-income communities. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 established a new community development program that provides tax incentives for investors to re-invest in low-income urban and rural communities that have been designated as Opportunity Zones. Communities are ...
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives last night passed S. 504, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Cards Act of 2017, which is identical to bipartisan legislation introduced in the House this year by Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Dan Donovan (R-NY), Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Dave Reichert (R-WA). The legislation permanently reauthorizes the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Travel Card (ABTC) program, which provides access to fast-track immigration lanes at...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representatives Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Dan Donovan (R-NY), Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Dave Reichert (R-WA) today introduced legislation to permanently reauthorize the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Travel Card (ABTC) program, which provides access to fast-track immigration lanes at airports for travelers who conduct verified business in the APEC region. APEC, a forum of 21 Pacific Rim countries including the U.S., created the ABTC program in 1997, and the U.S. sta...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice today introduced a House Resolution that supports the official designation of the week of November 14th, 2016 as National Apprenticeship Week, recognizes the important role that apprenticeships play in developing a well-trained and highly skilled work force, and commends organizations and employers that actively support apprenticeship programs. Original cosponsors of the resolution include Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member on the House Commit...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice announced today that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded $1.5 million to the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) to fund the New York State Apprenticeship Expansion Grant project, which aims to expand apprenticeship training and employment opportunities throughout the state. The funding will be used to create an unprecedented outreach campaign to promote apprenticeships as a key workforce development tool for the 21st century. NYS...
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By Noah Manskar After decades of activism and the passage of multiple federal laws, local and national leaders are still advocating for equal pay for equal work. U.S. representatives Steve Israel and Kathleen Rice appeared with leaders of local women’s groups in Manhasset on Thursday to call for the closure of the national gender-based wage gap and declare April 12 “Equal Pay Day.” The fact that women continue to be collectively paid less than men for the same work is not only “immoral” or “unj...
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GARDEN CITY, NY – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice and U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez met today with local labor leaders and elected officials at the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant to discuss the importance of apprenticeship programs. The Secretary’s visit came after last week’s celebration of the first-ever National Apprenticeship Week, which highlighted the potential for apprenticeship programs to help rebuild the American middle class by providing more workers with a path to new skill...
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GARDEN CITY, NY – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice is hosting a Women- and Minority-Owned Business Resource Fair on Thursday, August 27th, at the Freeport Recreation Center from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration and several other government agencies and business organizations will be on site to help business owners with the Women and Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE) certification process, provide legal assistance, and offer information about ...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice today called for apprenticeships to be included in Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for federal construction projects. In a letter to President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, Rice urged the President to encourage federal agencies to enter into PLAs with contractors that graduate apprentices from certified apprenticeship programs. PLAs are pre-hire collective bargaining agreements with labor unions that set the terms of employment for a ...
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The President is right on trade By Representative Kathleen Rice In January, I was asked to sign a letter to President Barack Obama expressing deep concern with the prospect of fast-track trade authority. Allowing the President to strike sweeping trade deals outside of the congressional amendment process is an almost unfettered power that in too many instances has led to the exploitation of the American worker. In signing the letter, I stood as an opponent of a fast-tracked, up-or-down House vot...
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