Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 18-3 to advance bipartisan legislation (S. 1356) to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). WIA was enacted in 1998, and has not since been reauthorized. As a result, the law is long overdue for an update. Goodwill supports the bill as written and is urging the Senate to quickly bring the bill to the Senate floor.
Tag: Budget
Collaboration Is Key to Doing More with Less
In recent years, the pool of resources for human services, including job training, has been steadily evaporating despite increased need. In the case of job training, federal funding for job training has steadily eroded over the last decade. Since 2002, funding for the Workforce Investment Act's (WIA) core funding streams has declined by $1 billion — more than 25 percent. Meanwhile unemployment was 5.8 percent in 2002, compared to 8.1 percent in 2012. As a result practitioners are asking themselves, “How do we do more with less?”
Despite Senate Advancement, FY 2014 Funding Prognosis Uncertain
This week, Senate appropriators are working to advance a bill that would provide $164.3 billion in discretionary budget authority for the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education. Compared to the FY 2013 level, the amount proposed by the bill would result in a $156.5 billion increase. In addition, the Senate bill is nearly 26 percent more than the $121.8 billion provided by the House version. Beyond this week, the prognosis for the bill’s advancement is murky.
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Senate Panel Holds Hearing on Improving Workers’ Skills
It has been 15 years since Congress enacted the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the nation’s primary job training law. Back then, the U.S. had a budget surplus and the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent. Today, the nation is slowly recovering from the worst recession experienced in a generation and unemployment is stubbornly declining from the peak it reached during that time. Needless to say, the law is long overdue for an update. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing today to consider how WIA could be improved to better develop a skilled workforce for a competitive economy.
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What Political Gridlock and Disinvestment Really Mean for America
Earlier this week, members of Congress observed Memorial Day in their home states and districts. Meanwhile, advocates for programs funded through non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending remain concerned about the country’s political and economic outlook. “Non-defense discretionary spending” is such a wonky term that it can lose its meaning during the process. In an effort to
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America’s Budget Process: A Return to Normalcy?
In 1920, presidential candidate Warren Harding campaigned on a “return to normalcy” promise after the end of World War I, a war that unhinged most of Europe from aristocratic rule and left many more people disillusioned. After the calamity of the Great Recession of 2008-2011, many Americans also became disillusioned with their government. What Americans needed was for their elected leaders to work together to right the ship of state. What they got instead were constant ideological battles, an inability or unwillingness to work together, and threats of government defaults, shutdowns and sequesters. But this year Congress might have finally woken up and listened.
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Congressional Job Training Debate Focuses on a False Choice
The editorial page of this Sunday’s Washington Post featured the article, “Congress debates the future of job-training program.” Rather than presenting a refreshing and balanced perspective on an important, yet long-delayed, piece of legislation, the editorial rehashed an old partisan debate over a false choice: Should the nation’s network of job training programs be consolidated or not?
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When Will Our Generation Take a Stand for Jobs?
My Facebook feed was filled this week with posts and pictures of people commenting on the recent cases before the Supreme Court. I walked past the people who lined up for days in order to get a glimpse of the oral arguments, and I started to think about what motivates them to take action. Why aren’t people showing the same level of engagement when it comes to issues before Congress?
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For Workforce Stakeholders, It’s March Madness
For workforce stakeholders, March has been an eventful month. Early in the month, Congress failed to avert automatic spending cuts, commonly referred to as “sequestration,” from taking place. This cut is resulting in a 5 percent cut to job training and other programs that allow Goodwill® to do more to help people to find jobs and advance in careers. Further, the cut will feel deeper since it is being applied late in the fiscal year.
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Action Needed to Prevent One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Job Training
Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act (H.R. 803). The bill proposes to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) while consolidating 35 job training programs in a single block grant to states. On March 6, 2013, the House Education and the Workforce Committee passed the bill 23-0. Democratic members of the committee walked out on the vote to protest the partisan process being used to advance the bill.
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