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www.workforcealliance.org
National Election and Federal Policy Update
What’s Happened, What’s Next
and Where We Go From Here
www.workforcealliance.org
The 2008 Election:
What it Meant for Workforce
Issues
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White House: Candidate Obama on Skills
• Job Creation: Investments in Clean Energy, Infrastructure
• College Access: American Opportunity Tax Credit
• Education Reform: Range of K-12 proposals, including for college prep
• Urban Poverty: Career Pathways, Transitional Jobs, Ex-Offenders
• Job / Technical Training: Reauthorize WIA; Community College Partnerships
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President Obama: The First 100 Days
• Cabinet and Departmental Appointments: Labor, ETA; Education, OVAE
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
• Middle-Class Task Force (OVP)
• FY2010 Budget Proposal
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New Congress and Administration: What’s Next?
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111th Congress: Unfinished Business
• FY09 Appropriations • WIA
• TAA• SECTORS Act
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111th Congress: New Business
• Economic Recovery Bill • Financial System• Health Care, Energy,
Education Reform • FY2010 Budget,
Appropriations
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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
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Purpose of the Bill• To create or save between 3-4 million jobs
Emphasis on infrastructure, green jobs, health care• Jump start the economy (short-term)• Rebuild economy (long-term)
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Basic Structure of the Bill
• $790 billion total cost (down from high of $940B in Senate version)
• Roughly 2/3 spending, 1/3 tax cuts
• Focuses on funding existing programs
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WIA FormulaWIA Bill Provision National Funding
Total Funding $2.95B
WIA Adult $500M includes supportive services; provides that priority for intensive and training
services to recipients of public assistance and other low-income
individuals
WIA Dislocated Worker
$1.25B
WIA Youth $1.2Bwork readiness only performance
measure for effectiveness of summer jobs; expands age limit from 21 to 24
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Funds are Short-Term: Funds to remain available “only as long as the other funds [PY08] allotted in that program year.”
The Challenges
Huge Expectations: The anticipation of “Transformative Change” is being shouldered by the workforce system.
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A Monumental Shift from Contingency Planning to Capacity Building: an unanticipated turnabout after years of disinvestment in the country’s workforce system.
The Challenges
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WIA Discretionary
WIA Bill Provision National Funding
Total Funding $1B
YouthBuild $50M Funds may be used to serve
individuals who have dropped out of high school and enrolled in an
alternate school if part of a sequential service strategy
National Emergency Grants
$200M
Competitive Grants for High Growth Industries
$750M; $500M Reserved for research, labor exchange, and job training to
prepare workers for green jobs. Priority for remaining funds given
to health care sector and other high demand industries identified by
local workforce areas
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Other DOL Programs
Bill Provision National Funding
State Unemployment Insurance and Employment Services Operations
$400M / $250M
To be used to provide reemployment services to UI claimants
Community Service Employment for Older Americans
$120M
Available through June 2010; funding to be allotted in proportion to PY 2008 to current grantees w/in 30
days
Job Corps $250M
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Department of Education
Bill Provision National Funding
Pell Grant Program (discretionary)
$15.64B For Federal Pell Grant
program; would increase maximum grant by $500
per year
Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants
$540M
Work-Study $200M
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Other Education and Training Provisions
Bill Provision National Funding
Electricity delivery and energy reliability activities (DOE)
$100M For worker training activities
On-the-Job Training/Supportive Services (OJT/SS) (DOT)
$20M To support programs that enhance training opportunities for members
of minority groups
Health Resources and Service Administration workforce development programs (HHS)
$500M To address health professions
workforce shortage.
Federal Building Fund (GSA)
$3MFor OJT pre-/apprenticeship
programs registered with DOL for construction, repair and alteration
of federal buildings
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Other Programs
Bill Provision National Funding
Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) (HHS)
$1BFull amount available
upon enactment. Permits states to set eligibility at 200% of
poverty
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) (HUD)
$1B
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Infrastructure and Energy Efficiency
• Focus on infrastructure and clean energy projects• Opportunities to coordinate (ETA TEGL)• Examples of funding
$27.5B for highway infrastructure $8B for high-speed rail $5B weatherization assistance fund $3.2B for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant
(EECBG) $4B for public housing capital fund
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American Opportunity Tax Credit
• Amends Hope Higher-Education Tax Credit for tax years 2009, 2010
• Worth up to $2500 per year
• 40% refundable
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TAA Reauthorization• Expands coverage • Increases training funds to $575M for
FY09 and FY10• $40M in FY09 and FY10 (plus $10M
for balance of 2010) for sector partnership
• $40M to community colleges in FY09 and FY10 (plus $10M for balance of 2010)
• Fixes the 8/16 rule, shifts to a straight 26 weeks
• Allows more flexible training options including part-time, long-term, and pre-layoff training options.
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TAA Sector Partnership Grant Program
• Up to $2.5M over 3 years to “strengthen and revitalize industries and sectors and create employment opportunities for dislocated workers”
• Mandatory Partners• Allowable activities
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Unemployment Insurance (UI)• Continues current extension of
unemployment insurance• Increases (through December
31) average benefit by $25 per week, to $325
• Allows up to $7B to be transferred to state account to incentivize modernizing UI system
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Next Steps• IMMEDIATELY: A lot of money is to
pouring down—need to be acting now to shape how its spent
Organizations should be talking to partners in the workforce system now
Demonstrate training capacity, job placement
• LONG(ER)-TERM: Critical that workforce community be able to show effective use of funds for positive outcomes
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FY 2009 Appropriations Omnibus• $410 billion total• Basically level funds
workforce, employment services at FY08 levels, about $3.6 billion
• Funds to be used simultaneously with recovery funding
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FY 2010 Budget Proposal• Summary released February 26th, Details released May 7th
• “Strong support” for federal workforce training programs
• Interest in promoting transitional jobs and career pathways programs
• Expands on the significant support for green jobs training under the recovery bill
• Calls for Pell Grant funding to be mandatory, increases maximum award to $5,500, eliminates lender subsidies under current Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). House budget resolution includes reconciliation language
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WIA Reauthorization?
• House Education and Labor Committee hearings – most recent May 5th
• Senate HELP staff “Listening Sessions” in November 2008, April 2009
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SECTORS Act • S. 777 introduced by Sen. Brown (D-OH), Sen.
Snowe (R-ME), Sen. Murray (D-WA)• H.R. 1855 sponsored by Rep. Loebsack (D-IA),
Platts (R-PA)• Establishes designated capacity for sector
partnerships under WIA
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Key Messages• We need new attention on
the forgotten middle of the skilled labor market
• The workforce of today is the workforce of tomorrow
• There are multiple pathways to good jobs
• We need a 21st-century skill guarantee
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Changing the Conversation: Changing Policy
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Presidential Signals
Joint address to Congress on February 24th:
"It is our responsibility as lawmakers and as educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. So tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.“
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Jessie Hogg LeslieSenior Regional Field Director
The Workforce Alliance