Secretary Chao Testifies before House Appropriations Subcommittee

 

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to give testimony regarding the Department of Labor's proposed FY 2008 budget.  Her written testimony is available at http://www.dol.gov/PrinterFriendly/PrinterVersion.aspx?url=http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/speeches/20070426_HHS.htm. 

 

Some issues raised by Subcommittee members during her testimony included:

·         the awarding of a large number of DOL contracts through a non-competitive process (these include, for example, some of the grants under the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative)

·         proposed cuts to WIA funding totaling about $1 billion

·         elimination of funds for rural migrant worker programs

 

FY 2008 appropriations for workforce development programs will be part of the massive Labor/HHS/Education spending bill, historically one of the most difficult to craft and to pass.

  

"Dear Colleague" Letter Circulated in House in Support of Increased WIA Funding

 

Last week, Representatives John F. Tierney (D-MA) and Ric Keller (R-FL) circulated a letter addressed to House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey and Ranking Member James Walsh in support of increased funding for Workforce Investment Act programs.  They are asking their House colleagues to sign onto the letter, which requests restoration of WIA funding to FY 2005 levels ($5.338 billion).  Representatives Tierney and Keller state that a "skilled workforce is essential to our nation's economic security and...proposed funding cuts will seriously undermine our ability to compete in the global economy."

 

ETA Publishes PY 2007 State Allocations for WIA, Wagner-Peyser

 

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has released Program Year 2007 (July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008) formula allocations by state for WIA Adult, WIA Dislocated Worker, and WIA Youth Programs, as well as for Wagner-Peyser Employment Service programs, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit.  The information is available in the April 6th Federal Register and can be accessed via the ETA website at http://www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/whatsnew/eta_default.cfm?id=1642. 

 

Because FY 2006 and FY 2007 appropriations for WIA were essentially unchanged, overall Program Year 2007 WIA allocations are nearly the same compared to Program Year 2006; however, allocations for individual states and particular programs within states may vary considerably compared to the prior year.

 

Senate Passes "Competitiveness Bill"

 

In late April, the Senate passed by a vote of 88-8 the "America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act"

(S. 761), which includes provisions to:

 

·         establish a President's Council on Innovation and Competitiveness;

·         increase the authorization level for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership by

      $5 million per year;

·         award grants for establishing specialty schools for mathematics and science;

·         establish a national laboratories summer internship program for middle- and secondary-school students;

·         establish Centers of Excellence in Mathematics and Science at schools in regions of national laboratories;

·         establish or expand programs to strengthen mathematics and science teaching skills of public-school teachers;

·         increase the number of teachers and students teaching or enrolled in advanced placement or international baccalaureate courses in mathematics, science, or critical foreign languages;

·         help low-income students performing below grade level in mathematics; and,

·         establish a program to provide mentors for women interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

 

More information on this legislation is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.00761.