Www.workforcealliance.org National Election and Federal Policy Update What’s Happened, What’s Next and Where We Go From Here

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National Election and Federal Policy Update

What’s Happened, What’s Next

and Where We Go From Here


The 2008 Election:

What it Meant for Workforce

Issues


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


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


New Congress and Administration: What’s Next?


111th Congress: Unfinished Business

• FY09 Appropriations • WIA

• TAA• SECTORS Act


111th Congress: New Business

• Economic Recovery Bill • Financial System• Health Care, Energy,

Education Reform • FY2010 Budget,

Appropriations


American Recovery and Reinvestment Act


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)


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


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


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.


A Monumental Shift from Contingency Planning to Capacity Building: an unanticipated turnabout after years of disinvestment in the country’s workforce system.

The Challenges


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


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


Department of Education


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


Other Education and Training Provisions


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


Other Programs


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


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


American Opportunity Tax Credit

• Amends Hope Higher-Education Tax Credit for tax years 2009, 2010

• Worth up to $2500 per year

• 40% refundable


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.


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


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


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


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


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


WIA Reauthorization?

• House Education and Labor Committee hearings – most recent May 5th

• Senate HELP staff “Listening Sessions” in November 2008, April 2009


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



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


Changing the Conversation: Changing Policy


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.“


Jessie Hogg LeslieSenior Regional Field Director

The Workforce Alliance

[email protected]

Documents

Www.workforcealliance.org National Election and Federal Policy Update What’s Happened, What’s Next and Where We Go From Here