New Jersey § 43:21-57

§ 43:21-57.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that: a. During the 1980s, New Jersey employers reported serious difficulties in finding

skilled workers for a wide range of jobs in key sectors of the State's economy, and,

notwithstanding the current economic slowdown, a longterm shortage of skilled labor

will continue in many parts of the State's economy during the 1990s and beyond; b. In addition, many New Jersey businesses are also hindered by low levels of literacy

and other basic skills among a significant minority of the workforce; c. Basic workplace literacy and vocational skill levels must be raised if the industries

and enterprises of this State are to be successful in an increasingly competitive

global economy; d. Because of a slowing rate of population growth, the retraining of the existing

workforce will play a critical role in meeting the growing need for skilled labor; e. The effectiveness of current programs to retrain displaced workers during the time

that they receive unemployment benefits is hindered by the limited duration of those

benefits, which often drives displaced workers into short-term retraining programs

with limited skill enhancement or results in the programs' avoiding the selection

of trainees who need more extensive training to succeed; f. It would increase the effectiveness of programs which provide retraining to displaced

workers if the unemployment benefit period could be extended in cases where the longer

benefit period is necessary to provide needed in-depth education and training; g. Such extended unemployment benefits in connection with job training and education

would encourage displaced workers to make greater use of retraining opportunities,

thus making productive use of periods of economic slowdown and helping to close the

skilled labor shortage during the growth periods that follow; h. New Jersey's Unemployment Compensation Fund, with its current balance of more than

two billion dollars, is among the most solvent in the nation; i. It is therefore an appropriate public purpose, beneficial to workers and employers

and the longterm economic development of New Jersey, to use a limited amount of unemployment

compensation funds to provide extended unemployment benefits as needed to enable displaced

workers to obtain the high quality training and education required for success in

occupations where there are demonstrated longterm shortages of skilled labor.