Teens, Officials Hope for More Summer Jobs

June 12, 2010— -- It's been a month since Jerrell Brennan, 15, applied for the summer jobs lottery run by New York City and still no word.

As these spots fill up, the longer he goes without hearing anything, the less likely he'll get a job. If he doesn't land one, he figures he might go to the pool with friends, play basketball or fish with his father. As good as that sounds, for Brennan, getting a job -- and a paycheck -- is even better.

"I like working. I don't like having to depend on people," Brennan told ABCNews.com. He recently paid $100 for a pair of new basketball shoes with the stipend he's been getting at his current internship with a non-profit community organization in Manhattan. Besides having pocket money, Brennan says the extra money helps his family; he now lives with his mother, cousin, baby sister and older brother.

"I want to work so I can help out with my mom and stuff, because I know it's not easy for her," he said. Summer money, Brennan said, could go to buying school supplies or occasionally buying food for the house.

Brennan is one of many teenagers nationwide who could be left with nothing to do these coming months unless more summer jobs open up. And as Brennan waits to hear about a job, state officials and summer job placement organizations are all holding their breath on what will come of a bill now before the U.S. Senate that provides $1 billion over 10 years to fund 350,000 summer jobs for teenagers and young adults ages 14 through 24. (If the bill passes, the money would be available this summer.)

The "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act," sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), comes during high levels of youth unemployment. In July 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the national youth unemployment rate between ages 16 and 24 was 18.5 percent, the highest since the statistics were first recorded in 1948.

"I hope logic will prevail," New York State Labor Commissioner Colleen Gardner, pushing for its passage, told ABCNews.com. "We can't just look at it as a billion dollars, we're looking at the future of young people and an economic development tool because the money goes to economies in our United States."

Earlier this week, Gardner appeared in a press conference with Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne Goldstein calling for a 'yes' vote. Top state labor department officials from Washington, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin also voiced their support for the bill in an ensuing press release about the event. Funding for summer jobs is just one provision inside the wide-ranging bill, which also tackles individual tax cuts, the extension of unemployment insurance, and liability limits for the Gulf Coast oil spill.