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Washington Update
House Approves
Two-Part Defense Supplemental
On Thursday, the House
of Representatives approved a two-stage defense
supplemental appropriations bill by a vote of
221-205.
The bill would fund military operations in Iraq
through July 2007.
At that point, another vote would be held
regarding release of additional funds through September
30, 2007.
In a separate earlier vote, the House rejected a
measure to mandate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq
beginning 90 days after enactment. The bill
retains the minimum-wage/small-business tax relief
provisions.
Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV) hopes to move quickly on the Senate
bill so that this legislation can be resolved prior to
the Memorial Day recess.
FY 2008 Budget
Resolution Expected to be Finalized this
Week
House and Senate
conferees have been working to craft a compromise budget
resolution in hopes of obtaining approval in both
chambers this week. Passage of the
budget resolution will clear the way for work on the
appropriations bills. It is
expected that the final resolution will include about
$20 billion more in spending than the President's
request.
The President cannot veto the resolution if
passed.
However, the President's budget director,
OMB Director Rob Portman, has indicated that he
will recommend that the President veto any of the twelve
FY 2008 appropriations bills that would push
discretionary spending beyond the Administration's $933
billion target.
Democrats say that it will not affect
their negotiations, dismissing the Administration's
statements as "posturing."
Democrats Introduce Wage
Insurance Bill
Senator Charles
Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) have
introduced legislation (S. 1330 and H.R. 2202,
respectively) that would create a wage insurance benefit
for workers forced to take lower-paying jobs due to
globalization or economic
downturn.
The wage insurance would help cover some of the
difference between their new wages and their old
wages.
If enacted, the
"Worker Empowerment Act" would provide relief by
replacing 50% of a worker's lost wages up to two years
and up to $10,000 per year, provided
that the worker meet certain
qualifications, such as that they were employed
by their former employer for at least two years. The benefit
amount will be recalibrated as workers' wages rise in
their new job.
Workers who earn less than half of the median
income in their area would receive a slightly higher
benefit, with wage insurance replacing more than 50% of
their old wages.
For more information,
see
http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=273766 or go to http://thomas.loc.gov and search for
H.R. 2202.
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Grant Opportunities
May 16th
Webinar on Grants for Youthful
Offenders
As previously announced,
the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has
announced the availability of $20 million in
grants for apprenticeships, alternative education, and
project expansion for youthful offenders. A
webinar for prospective applicants will be
conducted on the workforce3one website on
Wednesday, May 16, 2007, at
2:00 P.M. Eastern Time. For more
information, see http://www.workforce3one.org/public/skillbuilding/webinar_info.cfm?id=205.
Wisconsin Grants $ for
Emerging Industries Skills Partnership
Project
Wisconsin Department of
Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman has
announced the availability of $850,000 in
grants to fund the Emerging Industries Skills
Partnership (EISP) project. The goal of the
project is to provide training funds to support
and expand skill needs in the targeted industries of
bio-industry, biotechnology, or advanced
manufacturing.
Eligible applicants are the state's
workforce development boards. Applications are
due on June 22, 2007. For more
information, see http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/dwd/newsreleases/2007/0510_guidelines_for_eisp.pdf
or contact Gary Denis at
608-266-6886.
DOL Grants Will Assist
Mississippi Counties Affected by Hurricane
Katrina
The U.S. Department of
Labor has announced that six coastal counties
affected by Hurricane Katrina will receive approximately
$32 million to continue recovery and rebuilding
efforts.
This National Emergency Grant, to be awarded to
the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, will
help dislocated workers in George,
Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, and Stone
counties.
For more information, see http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20070639.htm.
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Announcements
Assistant Labor
Secretary Grizzard Addresses Disability
Forum
At a recent gathering in
Nashville, Tennessee sponsored by Goodwill
Industries, U.S. Assistant
Secretary of Labor W. Roy Grizzard of the Office of
Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) discussed services
and programs that can enhance performance outcomes for
workers with disabilities. He
outlined three broad areas of policy development and
implementation that ODEP is pursuing: workforce systems,
employers and the workplace, and employment-related
supports.
His remarks are available at http://www.dol.gov/odep/media/speeches/goodwill.htm
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State
News
States Investing
in Technology-Based Economic
Development
Across the nation,
states are planning and implementing substantial
investments in technology-based economic
development.
Some recent examples include:
· Massachusetts
Governor Deval Patrick, at the recent BIO annual meeting
in Boston, proposed a plan for a comprehensive
Massachusetts Life Sciences Strategy-a 10-year, $1 billion
investment to support bio-medical and stem cell
research.
· Iowa's
legislature has authorized and approved initial funding
for the Iowa Power Fund, a $100 million
investment to fund renewable energy research and
adoption.
· Florida
has created a new Opportunity Fund with an investment of
$29.5 million to provide seed money and
early-stage venture capital to high-tech
companies, particularly in advanced
manufacturing, information technology, life sciences,
aviation and aerospace, and defense
industries.
For more details on
these and other initiatives, see the State Science and
Technology Institute's weekly digest at http://www.ssti.org/Digest/latest.htm
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The next few weeks will be critical for the workforce
system as the House and Senate Appropriations Committees mark
up the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill that sets FY08
funding levels for workforce programs. Also, the Senate HELP
committee is slated to begin hearings on WIA Reauthorization
in June. Congressional staff told us that the workforce system
must do a better job of
educating Members of Congress by sharing success stories,
submitting testimonies and inviting both Members of Congress
and staff to visit One-Stop Centers.
NAWB
reminds you again that Members of Congress will be in their
home districts during the Memorial Day recess May
28th-June 1st. This is an ideal time
to invite them to tour your local One-Stop Career Center
and/or to attend a career fair and/or other event so
that they can observe first-hand the valuable services the
workforce system provides to the community. NAWB strongly
encourages you to share your success stories with Members of
Congress and their staff now and throughout the
year-through press clippings, data on job seekers and
employers receiving job placement, training, and other
services, and examples of community partnerships that you have
developed to build a skilled workforce and promote economic
prosperity.
Please
share your press clippings and data with NAWB as well
so that we may provide them to key congressional committees
and staff. Please
send these items to Mark Schultz via email at
schultzm@nawb.org or fax to 703-778-7901.
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