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In this issue:
Information
from the National Governor’s Association Regarding Federal Action
PLEASE NOTE: This update was provided by the National
Governor’s Association.
As outlined in previous updates, MWCA continues to encourage local
WIB Members to contact Minnesota’s
Congressional Delegation to voice opposition to Rescission Language in the
House Appropriations Bill.
Senate Passes WIA
Reauthorization Bill
Senate Passes WIA
Reauthorization Bill
On Thursday evening,
June 29th, the Senate passed its WIA Reauthorization bill.
Under the Senate procedures, the House-passed bill (H.R. 27) was
passed, after striking and inserting the text of S. 1021, the Senate
measure. The Senate WIA language was then attached as an amendment to
the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy
Promotion Act (S. 2125), and was passed by unanimous consent.
The next step is for
members and staff to “pre-conference” the House and Senate
bills to resolve two major issues—the block grant provisions and the
faith-based provisions. If those two issues cannot be resolved, it
would be unlikely that Congress could proceed with a formal conference.
The House bill combines WIA adult and dislocated worker funding
streams with Wagner-Peyser Act funds to form a single adult funding stream.
The Senate bill
maintains the same funding streams under current law, but also gives states
the option of choosing the optional WIA E&T Coordination Program, which
allows states (if they choose), to transfer up to 100 percent of two or
more of the following programs: WIA Dislocated Workers, WIA Adult,
Wagner-Peyser, WIA Youth, and Adult Education. NGA’s WIA
proposal would split the difference between the House and Senate bills, and
includes the development of common measures to ease administration of the
program.
On the faith-based
provisions, the House bill includes language that exempts religious
organizations from prohibition on discriminating in employment on the basis
of religion. The Senate bill does not include this language.
Materials Available
on Potential Impact of Proposed WIA Rescissions and Workforce Program
Funding Cuts
NGA is working with the
National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) and the National
Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to share information on the
proposed House cuts to WIA and related workforce programs with states.
NGA assisted NASWA in the development of materials* including talking
points (with a state-by-state chart of possible cuts for the recession) and
presentation handouts. The materials are attached for states' use and
information.
*Materials last updated
on June 28, 2006.
Update on FY 2007
Appropriations
The House this past week
completed initial work on all but one of its FY 2007 spending bills.
The only remaining bill is the Labor-HHS-Education bill. As
reported last week, the House Appropriations Committee has approved the FY
2007 Labor, Health and Human Services HHS, and Education appropriations
bill (H.R. 5647 and H. Rept. 109-515). House Republican leaders had
planned on scheduling a vote on the bill prior to the July 4 recess, but an
added amendment that would raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to
$7.25 per hour by January 1, 2009, has resulted in some members raising
concerns. Final action on the bill has been postponed until after the
July 4 recess.
Meanwhile on the Senate
side, none of the Appropriations Subcommittee bills have made it to the
Senate floor. The Senate is expected to proceed
with their spending bills after the one-week July 4th
recess.
TANF Regulations
Released**
On June 28, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services issued new regulations for the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The interim
final rules implement statutory changes enacted in the Deficit Reduction
Act of 2005. Several regulatory changes were made, including the
limitation of activities states can count towards the work participation
rate for the 12 categories of work. Specifically, the regulations
restrict several activities from being allowed for community service, work
experience, and vocational education training. The regulations also
state that substance abuse and mental health treatment, as well as other
rehabilitative services, may only count towards the work rate under the Job
Search/Job Readiness category - which has a six-week time limit per client
per year with no more than four weeks consecutively.
The regulations exclude
certain child-only cases from the work rate consistent with recommendations
made in the March 2006 NGA/American Public Human Services Association TANF
recommendations. The child-only cases that were excluded are
grandparents and other non-parental caretakers, undocumented immigrants and
immigrants under the five year ban, parents caring for a disabled family
member living in the home who does not attend school on a full-time basis,
and at state option, parents receiving SSI benefits. The regulations
also create new state requirements for documentation and verification of
work hours.
House
Education & the Workforce Committee Chair Announces Series of
Immigration Hearings
U.S. House
Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman Howard P.
“Buck” McKeon (R-CA) recently announced plans to examine key
aspects of and proposed changes to U.S. immigration law.
McKeon’s panel has jurisdiction over many immigration-related
issues, from employer and worker concerns to higher education and English
language education. The series of hearings will take place during
July and August, both on Capitol Hill and at locations across the country.
McKeon
listed several topics the Education & the Workforce Committee may
address in the comprehensive series of hearings, including:
- An examination
of views on English as the official language;
- School tuition
proposals;
- The impact of
current and potential changes to immigration laws on employers; and
- An overview of
the enforcement of current immigration laws and their impact on the
workforce.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you wish to be added or removed from this
distribution list, you may request to
do so by e-mailing
aolson@mncounties.org.
Minnesota Workforce Council
Association
Anne
Olson, Director
125 Charles Avenue, St.
Paul, MN 55103-2108
Phone: (651)
224-3344
Fax: (651) 224-6540 www.mncounties.org3/mwca
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