CTE Policy Watch

By: Steve

Today I attended a Workforce Investment Act (WIA) “listening session” hosted by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The session lasted half a day and presented an opportunity to offer written and verbal commentary regarding how organizations would like to see WIA reauthorized. The HELP Committee Democrats, led by Chairman Edward Kennedy, and Republicans, led by Ranking Minority Member Michael Enzi, have historically worked well together. This session included both Democrat and Republican staff who voiced their intent to continue to work together on WIA as one of their first points of business in the new Congress.

Groups from the education, workforce, union and business sectors presented. There were a number of areas of agreement. Most groups voiced that the reauthorization is long overdue and that Congress should work steadily to pass a new law. Reauthorization work has stalled over the past few years despite its importance. Several groups noted that the reauthorization will start from a different place this year due to a new president-elect, and the financial crisis and faltering economy which will impact funding and workforce needs. Many agreed that it is important that the new WIA increase training to prepare job seekers for career employment providing a living wage, rather than for “dead end” jobs that only meet immediate workforce needs. 

There were also points of disagreement. Many of the differences in opinion related to the way that Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) operate. Some groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers called for greater business input related to the WIBs. The AFL-CIO called for a top-to-bottom examination of WIA activities and indicated that the free-market ideology and push of WIA decisions to the local level needed reevaluation, while the U.S. Conference of Mayors said WIA should be guided by local control. Other recommendations included a greater state flexibility in combining their WIA funding streams designated in the law, and more focus related to disadvantaged populations.

It was a long morning. Let’s be honest…how much can you take in when you hear 20-30 formal presentations one after another. However, this was only the beginning. The Committee promised futher opportunity to provide input and feedback and this first important meeting will help staff as they begin to craft new WIA proposals. ACTE has WIA information and positions on our Web site that were reflected in our written comments presented to the Committee.

This entry was posted on November 17, 2008 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Legislation. Tagged: Add new tag. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.