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FEDERAL ISSUES:
WIA
Reauthorization
Federal
Appropriations
MWCA
Advocacy Efforts
NATIONAL
CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
SAVE
THE DATE! MWCA Winter Meeting
Washington Update
WIA
REAUTHORIZATION STALLED, MAY MOVE QUICKLY NEXT YEAR
(Information
provided by the National Workforce Association)
Authorizers in both chambers have told us not to expect any movement
on WIA this year, no Conference Committee meetings have taken place and
there is little reason for optimism, due to the lack of any compromise on
the faith based issue.
However, there is reason for
optimism early next year, as key Committee staff in both chambers told us
in the past two weeks that both Chairman Enzi and McKeon would both like to
get this bill done early next year before moving on to the most pressing
reauthorization bill, No Child Left Behind.
The bill could also be completed
quickly next year if Democrats take control of the House, as the major
sticking point in the bill, the faith based issue, will be off the table in
the House and has never been included in any version of the Senate
reauthorization bills. Democrats have told us that they will be supportive
of the local system and will focus their reauthorization efforts on making
system improvements. However, it remains to be seen under this scenario,
whether a bill without a faith based component would either have a hold
placed on it by a Senate conservative or face a veto threat from the
Administration.
MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS REMAIN FOR
POST ELECTION LAME DUCK SESSION
(Information provided by the
National Workforce Association)
No substantive legislative initiatives affecting the
workforce system were considered during the pre-election recess, as
Members’ focus remained on the campaign trail. Upon returning to Washington on
November 13th, Members are faced with the daunting prospect of trying to
complete nine appropriations bills and a last minute flurry of remaining
bills. Congress will be in session for one week in November and Members at
this point expect to return to return to Washington on December 4th. The
leadership in both the House and Senate now indicate that they expect to be
in session through mid-December.
However, the election results could change these plans.
If Democrats capture at least one chamber in Tuesday’s elections,
both parties may choose to return the week of November 13th and pass a long
term Continuing Resolution until some time in the new year, as Democrats
may want to revisit the appropriations bills in the majority and if
Republicans are returning to Washington after a difficult election cycle,
they may not have the desire to work through contentious appropriations
bills during a lame duck session. A determination of how long to extend the
lame duck session will need to be made soon after Members return, as
Congress will need to pass the next Continuing Resolution to receive
President Bush’s signature before he leaves for a trip to Asia on November 15.
Whenever the appropriations bills are ultimately taken
up, insiders tell us that they are very concerned that the bills will be
vastly under funded. The remaining nine bills, including Labor-HHS, will
need to be reduced by a total of $5 billion to absorb a last minute funding
increase to the DOD appropriations conference bill. As the Labor-HHS bill
is the largest remaining appropriations bill, it is expected to receive the
largest overall cut.
Despite the encouraging public statements last week by
Congressman Mike Castle, who is leading the House moderates effort to add
$3 billion to the Labor- HHS funding allocation and the efforts of Senators
Arlen Specter and Tom Harkin who sent a Dear Colleague letter to the
leadership in support of additional funding for the Labor-HHS funding
allocation with fifty-seven Senators signatures, there is little
expectation in either chamber that the Republican leadership will be able
to provide additional funding for the Labor-HHS bill as promised to
moderates in the budget debate. Appropriators expect that their allocation
will be at the House levels at best (which is $1 billion below the Senate
level and $3 billion below the level promised by the leadership), with the
potential for even less funding than the House bill provided. The
leadership will not provide Appropriators with a funding allocation for its
remaining bills until after the election.
Our efforts during the recess have been focused on two
areas - gathering opposition to the House WIA rescission and fixing a
modification made to a provision we inserted in previous years preventing
states from redesignating local areas or allowing changes by DOL to the
definition of administrative costs until WIA reauthorized. The language
this year has a proviso allowing changes to be made “after April 1,
2007 or whenever WIA reauthorized, whichever comes first”, which
could devastate the local system. We are actively engaged in eliminating
the April 1 date from this provision.
The lack of available funding makes the
Appropriators’ task particularly difficult this year. Appropriators
face with making significant cuts, regardless of their potential
programmatic impact, to complete their bills, which makes a long term
Continuing Resolution perhaps the best outcome for the workforce system. In
the past, we have been successful in preventing large funding cuts WIA to
the workforce system, in spite of the Administration’s claim of large
WIA formula carryover. This year, the rescission and any many other
programmatic funding cuts are potentially on the Appropriators’
chopping block, we are trying to limit the damage to WIA in this process by
educating key authorizing and appropriations staff from both the House and
Senate about the potential impact of a WIA rescission in the Labor-HHS
Conference.
Efforts to protect the workforce system are ongoing and
at the highest levels. We have also informed the other groups representing
the workforce system about the difficult funding environment this year,
requesting their assistance in our effort by contacting their Members of
Congress, highlighting the impact of the rescission locally and asking
their Members of Congress to contact Labor-HHS appropriators and urge a
rejection of the House WIA rescission in Conference.
Despite these collective efforts, appropriations staff
supportive of the workforce system WIA tell us that it appears likely that
some form of rescission may be included in the Labor-HHS bill if it is
moved during the lame duck session, due the tremendous funding shortfall
appropriators expect to face in their bill this year.
MWCA EFFORTS TO ADDRESS RESCISSION AND
FUNDING LEVELS
Senate: At MWCA’s urging, both Senator Dayton and
Senator Coleman have signed on to the Dear Colleague letter advocating full
funding for workforce programs.
MWCA has spoken with staff in both offices regarding the negative
effects proposed rescission language would have if passed through the
House.
House: MWCA has corresponded with the Minnesota
Delegation several times to address the impact rescission language would
have on local areas. Funding
levels have also been discussed with staff in several key offices.
THANK YOU to local WIB members and staff who have also corresponded with
Federal Elected Officials.
Contact information for all of the offices can be found on the MWCA
website: www.mncounties3.org/mwca/Legislative/Legislative.htm
If you would like talking points or a draft letter to
send to your member of Congress, please contact Anne Olson.
Participation in National Conferences
Two National Conferences are approaching, both of which
are looking for input from local areas. If you have suggestions or would
like to participate, please contact Anne Olson.
National
Workforce Association 2006 One-Stop
Center Workforce Development
Awards for Excellence
This year, there will be awards presented in four
categories:
To an exemplary
urban One-Stop System that is responsible for developing and achieving the nation's
workforce goals within a local area.
To an
exemplary rural One-Stop System that is responsible for developing and
achieving the nation's workforce goals within a local area.
To an
Executive Director that is responsible for developing and achieving the
nation's workforce goals within a local area.
To a region
employing innovative strategies in the delivery of business services to the
employer customer.
Those individuals/agencies selected in each category will be recognized at
the NWA's 2006 Annual Conference in St.
Petersburg, FL,
during the dinner function on December 4th, and will be presented with a
crystal award.
NAWB Innovative Practices Showcase
For the first time ever NAWB will showcase WIBs engaged
in innovative endeavors in the Innovative Practices Showcase at Forum 2007.
NAWB wants WIBs to “show off” innovative partnerships, business
services, best practices, tools, outreach strategies, and any initiative
others could learn from. The Showcase will be held in the NAWB conference
hotel on Sunday, February 25th, and participating WIBs will be given a
designated table and space for a poster. WIBs will be selected on a first
come, first served basis.
Save the Date!
The MWCA Winter Meeting will be held on Thursday,
December 14 in St. Cloud. The meeting will be held from 9:30
am until 12:00 pm, with lunch being served following. Election of Officers, Approval of
the Legislative Platform, and other official
business will occur, along with speakers and the opportunity to reconnect
with colleagues from other Workforce Service Areas. Official members (WIB Chair, WSA
Director and Chief LEO) will have voting rights, but all are invited to
attend.
More detailed agenda information will be sent out
shortly. If you have
suggestions for officer nominations, please contact Anne Olson or Trish
Taylor (aolson@mncounties.org or ttaylor818@yahoo.com).
________________________________________________________________________________________________
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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