[Affildir] FW: News from Committee

[Marsha Tait]

Dear Colleagues,

 

Reps. Tierney, Hinojosa, and Miller have introduced a
bill to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act.  This
is not the House Committee on Education and the
Workforce bill, but will influence the development of
the final House bill.  There is a long process yet to
occur before WIA is finally reauthorized.  The press
release below includes a link to a summary of the bill.

 

Marsha L. Tait

Executive Director

Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse

2111 S. Salina St.

Syracuse, NY 13205

315-471-1300

www.lvgs.org

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter @LVofSyracuse!

 

 


Reps. Tierney, Hinojosa, Miller to Offer Bill to
Address Worker Retraining Crisis


Legislation will help fill the 3.5 million open
positions across this country

Mar 20, 2012 Issues: Labor, Jobs and Job Training
<http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/issue/jobs-and-
job-training>  

 

Washington, D.C. – As the House Committee on Education
and the Workforce looks to start work on reauthorizing
the Workforce Investment Act, which is the preeminent
federal employment service and job training law,
Congressmen John Tierney (D-MA), Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX),
and George Miller (D-CA) held a conference call with
reporters today to announce their blueprint for how to
strengthen and modernize this critical law. Later
today, the lawmakers will introduce sweeping
legislation to expand opportunities for workers, help
businesses staff high-skilled and open positions, and
assure that tax-payer dollars are being spent wisely
and efficiently.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are
3.5 million open positions nationwide, many that cannot
be filled due to a lack of qualified candidates. In an
effort to solve this job crisis, the House Democrats’
legislation – entitled the Workforce Investment Act of
2012
<http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/bill/workforce-
investment-act-wia-2012>  - will strengthen the
existing system by streamlining and increasing access
to training, promoting innovation, and ensuring
accountability and transparency.

"Patrick Cole is a veteran from Lynn, Massachusetts in
my district who was laid off from his job as a
carpenter. After struggling to find work, Patrick
enrolled in a manufacturing certificate program
spearheaded by the North Shore Workforce Investment
Board along with North Shore Community College and
General Electric. Now Patrick is one of 17 people in
this program who will have a job when he completes the
program in June. The bill we’re introducing today will
strengthen and modernize the workforce system and
enable this kind of innovative partnership to be
replicated and accelerated nationwide. This bill
supports workers and businesses, and it is critical for
our country’s continued economic recovery," said
Congressman Tierney (D-MA), the only Member from New
England on the House Education and the Workforce
Committee.

“This bill reaches out to all Americans, in particular
it is a win for workers in rural America. This bill
authorizes increased investments in technology and
digital literacy, as well as enhances online training
and other technological improvements which allow rural
residents to receive training in a high growth, high
demand occupations. I look forward to working with my
colleagues to reauthorize WIA and strengthen our
nation's public workforce training and adult education
system.  Now more than ever, we must put American
workers first and help them to access good,
family-sustaining jobs and careers and achieve a better
quality of life,” said Congressman Rubén Hinojosa
(D-TX), the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on
Higher Education and Workforce Training.

“Workforce development programs are an important part
of the nation’s economic recovery and job creation
efforts. The bill introduced today creates a modern
workforce investment system and provides new
opportunities for Americans to enter the middle class,”
said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on
the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “While
the economy is turning around, there is much more work
to be done to help the millions of Americans without a
job, especially for the long-term unemployed. Now is
not the time to gut the Workforce Investment Act’s
mission, like some are proposing.”

“This bill is an important, positive step toward
strengthening and modernizing the nation’s workforce
investment system. We look forward to working with the
Committee to advance a final bill that ensures that all
U.S. workers and businesses have access to the skills
they need to compete and prosper,” said Andy Van
Kleunen, the Executive Director of the National Skills
Coalition.

Workforce organizations across the country are
announcing their support for this legislation as well.

David Bradley of the National Workforce Association
endorsed the Workforce Investment Act of 2012 saying,
“Thank you for all you have done for America’s workers,
we look forward to continue working with you on this
vital piece of legislation to combat the 21st century
employment challenges and restoring economic
prosperity.”

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was enacted in 1998
to establish a framework for how federally-funded
employment and training services would be delivered in
this country. The law created local workforce
investment boards (WIB) made up of stakeholders
including business representatives, labor
organizations, educational institutions, economic
development agencies, and community-based
organizations.

The Workforce Investment Act of 2012 will build on the
current systems by helping to cut out some of the red
tape that is slowing down the process of getting men
and women the resources they need, by strengthening the
Workforce Innovation Fund, a competitive grant program
to support the development of new strategies, by
expanding the role of community colleges, involving
more businesses and partnerships, and by increasing the
use of on-the-job training, incumbent worker training,
transitional jobs, paid work experience so that
individuals can learn and work and enter/renter the
labor market more quickly.

A summary of the Workforce Investment Act of 2012 can
be found here
<http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/bill/workforce-
investment-act-wia-2012> .

 

 

 

Ellen Fern

Senior Vice President

Washington Partners, LLC

1101 Vermont Avenue, NW; Suite 400

Washington, DC  20005

202.289.3900

efern at wpllc.net

 

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