[AAACE-NLA] Legislation to Strengthen & Improve America's Job Training System

[Dmartin336@aol.com]

Improving Adult Education:  The bill improves adult education  by
increasing focus on delivery of the basic skills of reading,  writing,
speaking and math; ensuring that instructional practices are based  on
scientific research; and increasing accountability for states and  local
providers to have measurably improved results in basic skills,  GED
graduates, and those entering higher education.
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COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE

U.S. HOUSE OF  REPRESENTATIVES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE             CONTACT:    Kevin
Smith or Dave Schnittger

January 4,  2005
(202) 225-4527

Workforce Committee Leaders Introduce Legislation  to Strengthen &
Improve America's Job Training System

Washington,  D.C. - House Education & the Workforce Committee leaders,
led by 21st  Century Competitiveness Subcommittee Chairman Howard P.
"Buck" McKeon (R-CA)  and Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH), today
introduced the Job Training  Improvement Act, legislation that would
strengthen and improve America's job  training system to help states and
communities ensure workers get the  training they need to find good jobs.
Through the Workforce Investment Act  (WIA) system, job seekers have
access to job training, job counseling, and  labor market information to
help them get back on their feet.  The  proposal is similar to a bill
passed by the House in 2003.

"Improving  the nation's job training programs is critical to our
ongoing effort to equip  Americans with the resources and skills they
need to find a new job and be  successful in today's changing economy,"
said McKeon.  "This bill will  provide job-seekers with the tools and
flexibility they need, while reducing  unnecessary duplication and
inefficiency, to ensure that job training  programs are responsive and
effective in helping Americans find a new job and  make a quick return to
work."

"I look forward to moving the bill  through the House early in the 109th
Congress and am committed to ensuring we  enact job training reforms in
this Congress," McKeon  added.

"Strengthening job training programs and reauthorizing the  Workforce
Investment Act is a top priority for our Committee this year,"  Boehner
said.  "Despite the roadblocks set up by Senate Democrat leaders  last
year to block job training reforms from being enacted, Republicans  will
continue to focus on the needs of job-seeking Americans and move  forward
with reforms to strengthen our job training programs."

In the  108th Congress, a conference on job training reform was stalled
by Senate  Democrats who refused to allow House-Senate negotiations to
move forward.  The House passed its version of the job training reform
bill on May 8,  2003, and the Senate passed its bill on November 14,
2003.  The House  moved to go to conference and appointed conferees on
June 3, 2004.  On  July 14, 2004, Boehner and McKeon sent a letter to
then-Senate Minority  Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) urging him to allow the
Senate to appoint  conferees, but Sen. Daschle did not responded to the
request.  Moreover,  on September 22, 2004, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY)
moved to appoint conferees  but was blocked by Senate Minority Whip Harry
Reid (D-NV) - the latest in a  long series of obstacles thrown in the
path of the job training  reauthorization process by Senate Democratic
leaders.  As a result, job  training reform was not enacted in the 108th
Congress.

The Job  Training Improvement Act would build upon the significant
reforms made in the  bipartisan Workforce Investment Act (WIA) that was
enacted in 1998.  While those reforms have helped provide workers with
the resources and  tools necessary to rejoin the workforce or retrain for
better jobs, areas of  inefficiency and duplication remain.  Duplication
of services under the  current WIA system reduces the amount of money
that could be used to  efficiently provide employment and training
services to individuals seeking  jobs.  Overlap in training programs
under the current WIA law has  contributed to the growth of a confusing
patchwork at the state and local  level.  Governors and state and local
officials need the flexibility to  target these resources toward the
unique needs of their  communities.

The legislation introduced today would help improve job  training
opportunities for Americans striving to get back to work by  streamlining
unnecessary bureaucracy, increasing cooperation among  workforce
development partners, protecting the rights of faith-based  service
providers participating or seeking to participate in the job  training
system, and authorizing personal reemployment accounts of up to  $3,000
to help unemployed Americans purchase job training and other  key
services.  While the introduced bill does not include President  Bush's
proposal to expand the role of community colleges in job  training
efforts, Republicans plan to incorporate it into the bill at some  point
during the legislative process.

#####

(A bill summary is  included below)

Job Training Improvement Act Summary

Highlights of  the Job Training Improvement Act include:

Eliminating duplication and  waste:  The bill creates a consolidated
funding stream to streamline  program administration and create more
program efficiency at the state and  local level.  Funds continue to be
targeted for those most in need of  critical reemployment services.
Priority is given to unemployed and  low-income individuals in the adult
grant program.

Employment services  to help job seekers get back to work:  Under the
bill, employment  services continue to be provided as core services in
the one stop career  centers.  To be clear that such services will
continue, the bill  incorporates current employment service functions
into the description of  core services.  For example, the bill requires
one stop centers to  provide labor exchange services, including job
search and placement  assistance, as well as appropriate recruitment
services for  employers.

Ensuring the one-stop delivery system is demand-driven:  The bill
requires state and local workforce investment boards to ensure  that the
system is dynamic and reflective of the workforce needs in the  local
area, and would increase connections to economic development.  The
measure also allows training for incumbent workers so employers  may
upgrade the skills of current workers, and would encourage the  highest
caliber training providers, including community colleges, to  offer
training through the one-stop system.

Removing barriers to job  training:  The bill eliminates arbitrary
provisions of current law that  prevent someone from accessing training
immediately if appropriate to meet  his or her employment goals.  State
and local areas would have the  flexibility to tailor services to meet
individuals' needs.

Allowing  faith-based groups to help train and re-train workers: The
bill protects the  rights of faith-based organizations participating or
seeking to participate  in the nation's job-training system.  Democrat
leaders believe  faith-based groups should be forced to abandon their
religious identities as  a condition of participating in the WIA system,
arguing such groups should  not be allowed to take religion into account
when hiring staff.  But the  Civil Rights Act of 1964 gives faith-based
groups the right to hire workers  on a religious basis, and President
Bill Clinton himself signed a number of  major laws upholding this right.

Offering worker reemployment accounts:  The bill includes a proposal
passed by the House last year and  introduced by Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV)
to create personal reemployment accounts  of up to $3,000 to help
unemployed Americans purchase job training and other  key services, such
as child care, transportation services, and housing  assistance as they
strive to return to work.  The proposal provides a  new, innovative
approach designed to provide unemployed Americans  additional
flexibility, greater choice, and more control over their  employment
search.  Porter will also introduce the proposal as a  stand-alone bill.

Improving Adult Education:  The bill improves  adult education by
increasing focus on delivery of the basic skills of  reading, writing,
speaking and math; ensuring that instructional practices  are based on
scientific research; and increasing accountability for states  and local
providers to have measurably improved results in basic skills,  GED
graduates, and those entering higher education.

Enhancing  Vocational Rehabilitation:  The bill includes a number of
provisions  designed to strengthen the 1973 Rehabilitation Act in a
continuing effort to  help individuals with disabilities become
employable and achieve full  integration into society.

Strengthening partnerships between businesses  and job training service
providers:  In his FY 2005 budget request,  President Bush proposed a
$250 million initiative to strengthen the role of  community colleges and
other institutions that provide job training services  to Americans
striving to get back to work.  While this proposal is not  included in
the Job Training Improvement Act introduced today, Republicans  believe
enhanced partnerships between local businesses and job training  service
providers like community colleges is critical and plan to  incorporate
the President's proposal into the bill at some point during  the
legislative process.

# # # #  #







Donna Martinez

"The world is dangerous  not because of those who do harm, but because of 
those who look at it without  doing anything." - Albert Einstein




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