Category: Advocate

For many American workers, participation in an apprenticeship program offers an invaluable pathway to a rewarding career with good wages. Local Goodwill® organizations have a long history of partnering with employers and community colleges to facilitate innovative apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. These structured earn-and-learn models combine occupational training, classroom instruction, access to support services, and opportunities for paid work experience with employers that prepare program participants, particularly those facing barriers to employment, for long-term career success.

READ MORE from Apprenticeships Provide a Pathway to Rebuilding America

Veterans Day is a time to reflect on the service and sacrifices of our nation’s veterans and military family members. President Joe Biden recently signed a proclamation designating November as National Veterans and Military Families Month. “To those who serve and those that serve alongside them — their families and caregivers — we owe a debt we can never fully repay,” said Biden. “We as a nation have a sacred obligation to properly equip and prepare our troops when we send them in to harm’s way and to support them and their families, both while they are deployed and when they return home.”

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Final passage of the bipartisan infrastructure framework and House passage of the Build Back Better reconciliation bill appear to be in sight — at least at the time of this writing. If the House passes the bipartisan infrastructure bill without any changes, it will head to the President for his signature.

READ MORE from Momentum for Build Back Better is Still Building

While considered an “off” year, every election is important and provides an opportunity to be an active participant in our democracy.  This year, New Jersey and Virginia will hold regularly scheduled elections for governor.  Other state executive offices up for election include lieutenant gubernatorial seats and an attorney general seat.  Including down-ballot races, there are seven state executive offices up for election across four states in 2021.

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There has been a lot of activity on the Hill and at the White House this week and the triangular negotiations on the reconciliation bill continue between progressive Democrats, moderate Democrats, and leadership (including President Biden).

READ MORE from Washington Whiplash

Goodwill Industries International is proud to celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).  In his Presidential Proclamation, President Biden stated that NDEAM provides a chance for us to recommit ourselves to dismantling barriers to access and inclusion in the workplace. As the President observed, “people with disabilities are still too often marginalized and denied access to the American dream. . . The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded these inequities, as people with disabilities have faced heightened risks.”

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Another crisis has been temporarily averted by Congress…for now. After a weeks-long standoff on the debt limit, the Senate passed a short-term measure that increased the ceiling by $480 billion, which will last until early December.

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With a few hours to spare, Congress narrowly avoided shutting down the federal government after passing a continuing resolution to keep the government open until December 3rd.  Lawmakers hope that the extension will given them ample time to pass the twelve appropriations bills, some of which have passed the House, but none have passed the Senate.  Continuing resolutions have become the norm, with Congress enacting one or more in all but three of the last 44 fiscal years. 

READ MORE from Shutdown Averted, But Congressional Showdown Continues

This year’s National Voter Registration Day is on Tuesday, September 28. While there are no federal-level races on the ballot this year, this doesn’t mean upcoming elections don’t matter.

READ MORE from Join Us on Tuesday for National Voter Registration Day

The House Committees have finished marking up their portions of the reconciliation bill, a $3.5 trillion measure investing in components of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan.  Using reconciliation will allow the bill to pass with a simple majority and avoid a filibuster, however not every Democrat is onboard. Fighting within the party exists over the cost of the package and provisions related to taxation, drug pricing and climate change among others. 

READ MORE from The Reconciliation Bill Moves Closer to Reality      

I was going to blog about the partisan markup held by the House Education and Labor Committee as they write their portion of the reconciliation bill. As noted in previous updates, the reconciliation measure will include investments in human infrastructure including workforce development and job training, childcare, free community college, paid leave and more – all of which could not garner bipartisan support in the infrastructure bill.

READ MORE from A Moment of Reflection

The U.S. Senate recently passed a resolution designating September as "National Workforce Development Month." It’s a time to recognize the important contributions that local workforce stakeholders, including community-based organizations like Goodwill®, provide in support of job seekers and career advancers, particularly those who have faced employment challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

READ MORE from Workforce Month Highlights Need for Investment