U.S. Senator Rob Portman visits Per Scholas

On January 4, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) visited Per Scholas Cincinnati to show his support of Per Scholas’ work with the long-term unemployed and to discuss his priorities as Co-Chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus.

The Senator met with Per Scholas staff as well as students of the current IT Support cohort. Portman shared, “I was glad to see the important work being done at Per Scholas Cincinnati to ensure Ohioans have the skills needed to fill the jobs that are available.”

During the visit, he also toured the CityLink Center and was impressed with the integrated social services that people can find there.

As Co-Chair of the Career and Technical Education Caucus and a member of the Senate Finance Committee, Portman wrote and passed an amendment that makes long-term unemployed Americans eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which encourages businesses to hire hire long-term unemployed Ohioans, helping them get back on their feet. He says, “Six years after the recession was declared over, more than 2 million Americans have been unemployed 27 weeks or longer – and even that excludes the approximately 6 million Americans who say they want a job but are not counted as unemployed because they have given up searching.  This provision creates an incentive for employers to hire those folks, the very people who have the most trouble finding work.”

To view the coverage of the Senator’s visit on WLWT news, click here.