Perez is Sworn in as 26th Secretary of Labor

Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath of office to Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez during a ceremony on September 4th.  Mr. Perez, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 18, is the 26th secretary of labor. Vice President Biden remarked he is "the embodiment" of the American Dream, who has devoted his life to providing others with an opportunity to succeed. Mr. Perez spoke of mentors and encounters that shaped his life, including the belief that "you can make it if you try." He called for closing "the skills gap" by investing in the nation's workforce, ensuring a safe and level playing field for workers, reforming the immigration system, and increasing the minimum wage

Happy Labor Day

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Celebrate 50 Years

"I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin."  Martin Luther King, Jr - 1963

FMLA Turns Twenty

Monday, August 5, marked the 20-year anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act. As a result, many people have the liberty, security and legal right to take time off the job to care for a family member without risking their job.

Grants to Improve State UI Programs

The U.S. Department of Labor announce that grants are available to improve state Unemployment Insurance programs.  The funding will help states implement strategies to prevent, reduce and recover improper payments and to modernize the UI tax and benefit systems. In order to qualify for funding, states must implement a set of core integrity strategies, such as the implementation or expansion of the State Information Data Exchange System to reduce improper payments. This round of funding also provides an opportunity for states to go beyond improper payments to focus on additional UI technology system improvements, data exchange enhancements for UI for Ex-military Service members, and integration of state UI, Employment Service, and Workforce Investment Act IT systems.

Eric Seleznow Named as Acting Assistant Secretary

Eric Seleznow was named U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Deputy Assistant Secretary this week. Mr. Seleznow brings more than 30 years of experience in the workforce development system and served as state policy director for the National Skills Coalition for the past three years. Before joining the coalition, he served as executive director of the Governor's Workforce Investment Board in Maryland. Mr. Seleznow also served as local WIB director for the Montgomery County (MD) Department of Economic Development. At ETA, Seleznow also will assume the role of acting assistant secretary.

Senate Approves Perez as 26th Secretary of Labor

On July 18th, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Thomas E. Perez to be the nation's 26th Secretary of Labor.   Mr. Perez has spent his entire career in public service, and will join the department on July 23 after an impressive tenure as the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.   He previously served as the secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Immediate Past President

The International Educational Conference celebrating the 100th anniversary of IAWP has come and gone and I am now officially Immediate Past President.  The conference was terrific and I had the time of my life and will cherish each and every memory made with my IAWP family.  Special thanks to the conference planning committee - George Barthalow, Terri Pasternik, Grant Axtell and Mary Riddell for all their hard work making the conference the "celebration of a century."

I enjoyed serving as International president and seeing my theme, Celebrating a Century, Charting Our Future become a reality.  It's now time to turn the helm over to incoming president Raymond Cabrera to create "Your Pathway to Communication and Education."

Chicago Here I Come

This is likely my last post as IAWP president since I will be leaving for Chicago tomorrow and the IAWP International Educational Conference and probably won't find the time while I am there to post.  It's been a wild ride as president and I have enjoyed most of it.  I didn't get everything done that I had hoped to do and some of the committee chairs didn't accomplish what I hoped they would, but as my mom used to say "That's the way the pickle squirts."  Thanks to everyone who supported me and a special thanks to those that accomplished so many of the things we did get done.  Celebrating a Century, Charting Our Future.  Nancy

Immigration Bill to Provide Jobs for Youth

 The U.S. Senate passed an immigration reform bill that includes $1.5 billion over two years for youth jobs. The provision, proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), would help states and local communities find jobs for more than 400,000 unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds. Currently, the official unemployment for that age group is 16.2 percent.

States will be able to use this funding to provide summer and year round job opportunities to young Americans until September 30, 2015. It is anticipated most of this funding will be used to provide summer job opportunities for young Americans during the summers of 2014 and 2015. Each state would get at least $7.5 million.

Job Corps Now Enrolling

 Job Corps is seeking new applicants ages 16 to 24 for its national career training and education program at 125 campuses across the country. Residential and nonresidential slots are available for the self-paced federal program. The program is an ideal opportunity to gain education, career training, and employability skills for eligible low-income individuals who may be looking for a steppingstone to a community college or for those who need additional support to pursue a community college degree.

NASWA Asks for Flexibility for EUC

On Friday, June 14, 2013, NASWA’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Committee Chair Bruce Madson (OH) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) Office of Unemployment Insurance (OUI) Administrator Gay Gilbert communicating the need for flexibility of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program when Fiscal Year 2014 begins on October 1st.

The letter stemmed from the most recent NASWA UI Committee meeting at the end of April 2013, where states discussed the need for flexibility if states have to implement another sequestration cut for the EUC program for the fiscal 2014 budget cycle.

The UI Committee is concerned states will not have the time, or the resources, to implement another prescribed federal cut to the weekly and maximum benefit amounts to the EUC08 program before the program expires on December 31, 2013, to achieve the required sequestration savings. The UI Committee also is concerned another round of sequestration changes in the next fiscal year would cause further claimant confusion, unnecessary system changes and costs, increase the risk of benefit overpayments and underpayments, and hurt the overall integrity of the UI system.

The UI Committee proposed allowing states to implement the following options should fiscal year 2014 sequestration be required:

 1. Permit states to continue with the same state specific solution and percentage reduction approved by USDOL for fiscal 2013 sequestration reductions;*

2. Allow states to propose plans to achieve the targeted EUC reductions;
3. Permit states to change percentage reduction amounts to new EUC claimants and/or existing EUC claimants to achieve targeted EUC reductions; or
4. Permit states to end the EUC program early as a viable option for achieving targeted EUC reductions.

Senate Committee Announces Hearing on WIA Reauthorization

On Thursday, June 13, 2013, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, announced a full committee hearing for Thursday, June 20, 2013 at 2:30 PM on reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act. The hearing is called: Developing a Skilled Workforce for a Competitive Economy. 

The intent of the hearing is to discuss general workforce issues; it will not review specific legislation.  The legislation will be bipartisan and authored by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA).  Senator Harkin would like to mark-up the legislation by the end of July and perhaps take it to the Senate floor in early fall.

NASWA President Retires

NASWA President and Oregon Employment Department (OED) Director Laurie Warner announced her retirement effective July 1, 2013, from the OED after nearly eight years heading the agency and 30 years of service at the state and local levels of government. Ms. Warner also served as NASWA Treasurer and on NASWA’s Administration and Finance Committee as Vice-Chair (2008-2009) and Chair (2009-2010) prior to becoming NASWA President-Elect in 2011.

As of July 1, 2013, NASWA President-Elect Mark Henry (MS) will become NASWA President, completing Ms. Warner’s term and then starting his own term after the 77th NASWA Annual Conference in September.
 

80th Anniversary of Wagner-Peyser Act

Thursday, June 6th, marked the 80th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt’s signing the Wagner-Peyser Act into law. The Wagner-Peyser Act established the U.S. Employment Service (ES) in response to the Great Depression.
WIA) programs and the UI system, playing an important complementary role in the state one-stop career center system.

Wagner-Peyser Act services reduce the duration of unemployment and also increase the earnings of job seekers upon reemployment. Nearly 20 million Americans every year receive services under the Wagner-Peyser Act.

New Acting Assistant Secretary for ETA Named

On Thursday, June 6, 2013, U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) Acting Secretary Seth Harris announced the appointment of Gerri Fiala as Acting Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) after the retirement of former ETA Assistant Secretary Jane Oates on May 31, 2013. Prior to being named ETA Acting Assistant Secretary, Ms. Fiala served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for USDOL.

ETA Acting Assistant Secretary Fiala first joined USDOL in 1986 as the Chief of the Policy and Planning Unit in ETA’s Office of Strategic Planning. Acting Assistant Secretary Fiala became the Administrator of the same office in 1995, where she served for eight years, playing a key role in developing policies and working with Congressional staff on the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. 

FY 2014 Comments

From the USDOL DOL News Brief:

At the start of acting Secretary [of Labor] Harris' June 6 hearing before the Senate Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin noted that, in its 100th year, the department's mission "has never been more important." Harris agreed and in prepared testimony highlighted the ways the department's Fiscal Year 2014 budget request helps ensure ladders of opportunity for Americans striving to enter and stay in the middle class. In fiscal year 2014, the department will work to restore America as a magnet for jobs, by investing in high-tech manufacturing and innovation, clean energy and infrastructure, while cutting red tape to help businesses grow. The budget request supports education and job training to give workers the skills they need to compete in the global economy. "Our budget request invests in the future by working to make good jobs available for all American workers in a fiscally responsible manner," said Harris.

WIA Reauthorization Update

According to press reports, Senator Tom Harkin, (D-IA) is currently working to bring a reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act up for consideration. Senator Harkin chairs the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions which has jurisdiction over the issue. The Senator said he expects to have a bill ready by late summer or early fall and suggests there will be bipartisan support for the plan.

As part of that process, Senator Harkin said this week he would like to see vocational rehabilitation agencies take a bigger role in facilitating internships and other real-world experiences for students with disabilities who are in transition. Currently, access to vocational rehabilitation varies widely from state to state, with employment services available to youth with special needs in some locations, but not others.

Volcker Predicts Slow Drop in Unemployment Rate

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker spoke before the National Association for Business Economics in Washington after receiving the organization's first lifetime achievement award for economic policy.

The economy “is growing, but not fast enough to reduce the unemployment rate in the way we would like to see,” Volcker said. “It’s declining because the labor force is not rising, and we’re getting a little more employment, but it’s a long way from being satisfactory.”

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 7.5 percent in April from 7.6 percent in March and 8.1 percent a year earlier. The rate was last below 6 percent in July 2008.

Bills to Repeal Sequestration

On Tuesday, April 23, 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced S. 788, legislation to repeal sequestration for the remainder of fiscal year 2013 and replace the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts with savings from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also introduced legislation, S.799, that would require alternative spending cuts equal to the amount called for under sequestration by May 15, 2013. The measure also would allow the alternative spending plan submitted by the Administration to be blocked if Congress adopted a resolution of disapproval to override.

Both proposals put forward by the Senate Majority and Minority seek to address sequestration in a more comprehensive manner as the effects of sequestration are being felt around the country. Congress easily approved legislation ending furloughs of air-traffic controllers that have delayed hundreds of flights. The U.S. House approved the measure in a 361-41 vote, one day after the Senate agreed to the bill.

On Monday, May 6, 2013, U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Assistant Secretary Jane Oates announced her resignation, effective May 31, 2013. 

 

In her resignation letter, Assistant Secretary Oates thanked the staff at U.S. Department of Labor for their efforts during her tenure specifically mentioning the distribution of $1 billion in grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Department’s response to the BP oil spill and Hurricane Sandy, the development of new electronic tools for job seekers and businesses and working with states in the implementation of significant changes to the unemployment insurance program contained in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.

 

Assistant Secretary Oates has been a long-time friend to IAWP, keynoting several of our International Educational Conferences.  IAWP wishes Assistant Secretary Oates the best in the future and we hope our paths cross again.

Confirmation for Labor Secretary Delayed

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) announced on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, it was delaying the Committee confirmation vote for Secretary of Labor-Designate Thomas Perez until Wednesday, May 8, 2013. Minority members of the Committee requested the hearing be delayed as they seek additional information on the nominee. 

Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) said in a written statement that, “While I continue to believe there are no impediments to Mr. Perez’s confirmation, I am agreeing to postpone his Committee vote until May 8th, in order to allow those Senators who have asked for the time to request additional information they believe they need and to evaluate his qualifications.”

Job Corps Enrollments On Again

The US Labor Department lifted the hold on Job Corps enrollments Monday, ending the action took in January to deal with an estimated $60 million shortfall for the federal job-training program.

The move comes as good news for individuals who have been locked out of the program, but the Job Corps still plans to reduce enrollment by 20 percent, according to the National Job Corps Association.

The Job Corps, which enrolls about 60,000 students each year, has encountered two consecutive budget deficits since USDOL moved the program’s budgeting and procurement operations from the Office of Job Corps to the Employment and Training division. The previous shortfall reached $30 million and prompted the Labor Department to freeze Job Corps enrollment for the first time in its 48-year history last summer and again in December.

Acting Secretary Harris on Impact of Sequestration

On Tuesday, April 16, 2013, while testifying before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies on the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget for the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Acting USDOL Secretary Harris responded to questions on the effect of sequestration on USDOL programs.

Acting Secretary Harris said sequestration, “cost the Labor Department $3.1 billion and that’s money that comes out of job training for workers who are trying to transition into civilian jobs.” Rep. DeLauro also asked Acting Secretary Harris to comment on the larger trend of funding for workforce programs declining over the last decade, which she cited at about one billion dollars in actual dollars over the last 11 or 12 years. Acting Secretary Harris cited an example -- saying, “that we have lost 800 American Job Centers – one stop career centers -- around the country, 20 percent of the total.”

Acting Secretary Testifies on FY14 Budget

Acting Secretary of Labor Seth Harris testified before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies on the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget for the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) released last week.

Acting Secretary Harris, in his opening statement, said the Administration proposes reforming the unemployment system into a reemployment system, training workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own by creating a Universal Displaced Worker Program and the Department’s renewed efforts in assisting veterans find civilian jobs and promoting adoption of several unemployment insurance integrity initiatives, State Information Data Exchange Systems (SIDES) and the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), by states.

USDOL Priorities for FY 2014

Investing in job creation, workforce innovation, building the skills of American workers and putting the nation's veterans back to work are among the priorities in the Department of Labor's fiscal year 2014 budget request to the Congress. "The investments we make at the department will help create good jobs, upgrade workers' skills so that they can succeed in those jobs, and make sure Americans can support their families with a decent wage and secure benefits," acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris said in announcing the budget request on April 10.

The FY 2014 budget seeks $12.1 billion in discretionary funding for the department. To help the long-term unemployed get back to work, the department proposes two initiatives: Re-employment NOW, which incorporates Unemployment Insurance reforms, and Pathways Back to Work Fund, to make it easier for persons to remain connected to the workforce and gain new skills for long-term employment. The budget includes an innovative reform effort, the Universal Displaced Worker program, which will modernize and accelerate the delivery of training and employment services to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. And the request also calls for significant investments in new funding to assist veterans, particularly those with disabilities, in finding employment.

 

Unemployment Rate for Americans Under Age 25

According to CBS News, unemployment rates for Americans under the age of 25 are the highest since the end of World War II.  It's a situation that is unlikely to change anytime soon, according to a new report.

Since 2007, the average official unemployment rate for people under 25 has been 18 percent, 5.5 points higher than for the preceding 15 years, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. This would seem to make the 16.2 percent rate for March look like an improvement.

But that rate, like the government's general unemployment rate, does not account for those who have dropped out of the labor force. Since 2007 the youth labor-force participation rate has dropped from 69 percent to 64.7 percent in 2012. Last month about 236,000 young people dropped out of the workforce. If you include them, the rate balloons to 22.9 percent and disturbingly close to the EU's 23.9 percent rate for the same age group.

CCC in History

Eighty years ago this week, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the Civilian Conservation Corps — a pioneering national jobs program that heralded a major step forward in the nation's recovery from the Great Depression. An early hallmark of Roosevelt and Secretary Frances Perkins' visionary New Deal, the CCC provided jobs to unemployed young men in rural conservation projects —planting trees, managing fires, carving out roads and trails, and building infrastructure for parks and wilderness areas. The program exemplified interdepartmental collaboration, with the Labor Department recruiting young workers for the program through a newly formed National Re-Employment Service (a quarter of a million enrollees joined the corps in just two months). When the program ended in 1942, millions of young men had participated. The legacy of the CCC endures today, not only in the lasting contributions it made to the stewardship of our natural heritage, but in the capacity for the Labor Department and others to provide employment and training programs.

(From the USDOL Newsbrief April 4, 2013)

Congress Completes FY 2013 Appropriations

Last Thursday, the House of Representatives approved a short-term continuing resolution bill that will pay for the operations of the U.S. government through this September, the end of the 2013 fiscal year. The Senate had approved the bill Wednesday, meaning it has cleared Congress and now goes to President Obama, who has promised to sign it when he returns from the Middle East. The continuing resolution authorizes discretionary federal spending for the next six months. If Congress had not approved it by March 27, when the current CR expires, government agencies would have had to shut down.

The continuing resolution leaves in place the across-the-board cuts, known as sequestration, which effectively sets non-emergency discretionary spending authority for the year at about $984 billion after sequestration is taken into account, down from $1.043 trillion in fiscal 2012.

Perez Nominated

President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he is nominating Thomas Perez,  the assistant U.S. attorney general, as Secretary of the U S Department of Labor.

"Like so many Americans, Tom knows what it is like to climb the ladder of opportunity," Obama said, adding that Perez made protecting the promise of equal opportunity for all "a cause of his life." Perez thanked Obama in both English and Spanish for what he called the honor of the opportunity.

He pledged to work with organized labor, the business community, grassroots organizations and Congress, adding that he looked forward to meeting with senators from both parties to discuss the way forward.  "True progress is possible if you keep and open mind, listen to all sides and focus on results," Perez said.

House Passes WIA Reauthorization Legislation

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Known as (H.R. 803) the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act, would overhaul and reauthorize the 1998 Workforce Investment Act (PL 105-220).

The legislation would consolidate 35 employment and training programs into a single Workforce Investment Fund totaling approximately $6 billion to serve as a single source of support for employers and job seekers. Funding for those programs would be merged into a block grant to the states.

H.R. 803 would do the following:

• Create a workforce investment fund to serve as a single source of federal support for employers;
• Ensure two thirds of state and local workforce investment boards members are employer representatives;
• Eliminate 19 federal mandates regarding state and local workforce board representation;
• Allow locally elected officials to determine the remaining board members;
• Require local workforce boards to analyze regularly the area’s workforce needs;
• Require state and local leaders to adhere to common performance measures for all workforce development services;
• Require an independent evaluation of training programs every five years;
• Strengthen the ability of governors to designate the location of workforce areas in their respective states;
• Allow states to continue submitting a unified statewide workforce plan for all employment and training services;
• Allow governors to consolidate additional programs into the workforce investment fund for the express purpose of providing greater administrative flexibility;
• Allow states to determine the standards required for eligible training providers;
• Allow local boards to contract with community colleges directly to provide training to large groups;
• Require local boards to spend a portion of the resources directly on training; and
• Require service providers to contribute a portion of their resources to support the One-Stop-Career Centers’ infrastructure.

Possible Labor Secretary Nominee

President Obama may nominate civil-rights attorney Thomas Perez as secretary of Labor.  Perez is an assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice.  He is also the former head of Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.  A graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard's  John F. Kennedy School of Government, Perez was a Justice Department attorney for 12 years prosecuting civil-rights cases, and a deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration.
Perez also worked during the Clinton administration as the director of the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services. He was previously on the staff of the late-Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Workforce Data Podcasts

If you've ever wanted to better understand how to interpret and use the vast set of data produced by the Department of Labor, now you can. The Employment and Training Administration has just issued six new Quick-Lesson Podcasts to help individuals find and use workforce statistics on unemployment, worker dislocation, projections, industries, the economy, and states and localities. The podcasts presume no previous subject matter or statistical knowledge, making it accessible for a broad variety of audiences and purposes. Each presentation includes basic definitions, a brief historical background, links to the most important data sources, and practical tips on how to interpret and use the data. Transcripts of the podcasts are also available on the website.  Listen to Podcasts

Unemployment Falls to Lowest Level Since 2008

According to the The New York Times, the United States economy gained 236,000 jobs in February, well above what had been expected, while the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008. The gains were broad-based, the US Department of Labor said Friday, with sectors ranging from manufacturing to business services turning in healthy results. Construction was especially strong, adding 48,000 jobs, a sign that the recovery in the housing market is beginning to translate into new jobs.

Happy Anniversary USDOL!

For 100 years, the U.S. Department of Labor has been promoting the welfare of working Americans. On March 4, 1913, outgoing President William Howard Taft reluctantly signed the law establishing the department. A few hours later, newly-inaugurated President Woodrow Wilson appointed the first secretary of labor. Both actions signaled a commitment by the government to serve working Americans that has not wavered over the last century.

USDOL observed its 100th anniversary this week with the raising of a centennial flag at its Constitution Avenue entrance, a special centennial history Web page for the public, a proclamation by the president, and an email to departmental employees from Acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris. "We share a lasting bond with the men and women who came to work on that first day in 1913: a commitment to an extraordinary mission, no matter the challenge, even in times of great adversity," Harris wrote.

In his proclamation, President Obama said, "the Department of Labor is working to restore the basic bargain that built our country: that no matter what you look like or where you come from, if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead. It is forging new ladders of opportunity so a generation of workers can get the 21st century skills and training they need. And to preserve a century's progress in labor rights, the department will continue to ensure hardworking Americans always have a voice in government and on the job."

Governor's Challenge

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden highlighted the work that has been done across the country to change laws that require military spouses to attain new credentials when they move to a new state, and challenged the governors of all 50 states to take legislative or executive action to help our troops get the credentials they need by the end of 2015.

For the full article visit:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/25/first-lady-michelle-obama-challenges-governors-all-50-states-ease-service-members-tr

Senate Sequestration Alternative

Senate Democrats are expected to unveil next week a short-term sequestration replacement bill aimed at combining alternative spending cuts and new tax revenue to avert $85 billion in automatic spending cuts scheduled for March 1, 2013. 

Senior Democrats, including the Chairman on the Senate Committee on Finance, Max Baucus (D-MT), said the final configuration and duration of the replacement measure, including the share that would come from spending and tax revenue, was still under discussion. 

 

Although full details of the short-term sequestration replacement measure have yet to be settled, the likely configuration would be a measure cutting the budget deficit between $112 billion and $120 billion, replacing sequestration through the rest of the 2013 fiscal year and to the end of the calendar year. However, it remains unclear whether the Senate Minority and the House Majority would accept a package containing additional revenue increases as a replacement to sequestration. 

 

President Obama urged Congress on Tuesday to pass a short-term package of spending cuts to avert sequestration that will take place March 1.

20th Anniversary of FMLA

On February 5, 1993, President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)and declared, "I am very proud that the first bill I sign as president truly puts people first. America's families have beaten the gridlock in Washington to pass Family and Medical Leave." FMLA provides for job-protected parental leave for the birth or care of a child, but the Act also helps caretakers of injured or ill relatives, military families and caregivers, workers with personal health problems and so much more.

As an HR manager for the past 18 years, I have seen many employees benefit from the FMLA.  Although it added another layer of complexity to already confusing HR policies, it is truly a wonderful benefit for the worker.  Happy anniversary FMLA!

 

WOTC Extended

On January 3, 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Tax Payer Relief Act of 2012, which, among many other provisions, authorized an extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. The Act contains the following major provisions regarding WOTC:

• Continues authorization of all veteran target groups (including those implemented under the VOW to Hire Heroes Act) until December 31, 2013;
• Retroactively reauthorizes all WOTC non-veteran target groups, from December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2013;
• Retroactively reauthorizes Empowerment Zones, which determines eligibility for the summer youth target group, from December 31, 2011, to December 31, 2013; and
• Does not reauthorize the Recovery Act disconnected youth and Recovery Act unemployed veteran target groups.

WIA Reauthorization

House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN) indicated one of the first legislative priorities of the Committee under the new Congress will be to resume efforts from last year to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 expired in 2003, but programs authorized by the act have continued to receive funds through annual appropriations by Congress.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed a bill last summer, H.R. 4297 the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012; however the bill did not come before the House for a vote. The bill will likely be reintroduced in the coming weeks and will move through the Committee quickly.

The bill last year moved through the Committee last year by a vote of 23 to 15, and will likely face the same opposition from the House Minority on the Committee with many objecting to the consolidation of programs and funding, expressing concern the bill could shift resources from underserved populations.

The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 proposed consolidating funding from twenty-seven national and state-administered workforce programs, including: WIA Adult, WIA Dislocated Workers and WIA Youth, Job Corps, the Senior Community Service Employment Program, and a section of the Wagner-Peyser Act into a new Workforce Investment Fund that would be distributed by formula to states and local areas. 

In addition to consolidation of the 27 national and state-administered workforce programs, H.R. 4297 would have made the changes in the State Set-aside, eliminate the current state Local Veterans Employment Representative (LVER) and Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and replace them with a Veteran Employment Specialist (VES) who would be hired by a local area, and repeal sections 1 through 13 of the Wagner-Peyser Act.

Acting Secretary of Labor Named

Seth D. Harris, the U. S. Department of Labor's deputy secretary since May 2009, has been selected to be the acting secretary of labor. In an email to department employees on January 24, Harris wrote, "Our goals in the department are stability and continuity as we wait for a Secretary of Labor to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate." Before joining the department, Harris was a professor of law at New York Law School and director of its Labor & Employment Law Programs. He served for seven years at the department during the Clinton administration in key positions, including counselor to the secretary of labor. Harris, who takes office with the resignation of Hilda L. Solis, told department employees in his email that "our mission has never been more important than it is today. Let's work together to carry it out, to help the people and organizations that depend on us, and to continue rebuilding America's economy."

Members of Congress will return to Washington, D.C. this week and begin negotiations on a series of fiscal deadlines needing to be resolved over the next two months. They include:

• Debt Limit: The federal government will be unable to pay its financial obligations starting sometime between mid-February and early March, unless Congress increases its borrowing limit. The U.S. reached its statutory borrowing authority limit of $16.4 trillion late last year.
• Sequestration: In addition to increasing the debt limit, Congress also will address sequestration -- $84 billion in automatic spending cuts -- to both defense and nondefense programs effective March 1, 2013.
• FY 2013 Funding: Congress also will need to resolve funding for government operations for the remainder of fiscal year 2013, as the Continuing Resolution expires March 27, 2013. Without an extension of the Continuing Resolution or passage of an Omnibus appropriations bill, there will be the potential for a government shutdown without funding to continue government operations for FY 13.

 

Wal*Mart the nation’s largest retailer, announced a plan to hire every veteran who wants a job, provided that the veterans have left the military in the previous year and did not receive a dishonorable discharge. 

 

Company officials said they believe the program, which will officially begin on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, will lead to the hiring of more than 100,000 people in the next five years, the length of the commitment.

42 Days and Counting

The deadline for submitting IAWP awards is just 42 days away! It's time to start compiling those chapter awards - Education, Communication, Chapter Development, Recognition and Marketing and time to start writing an individual or group award - Citation, Merit, Public Policy, Workforce System Customer Service, Lifetime Achievement, Retiree of the Year and Ealton Nelson (non-US members).

All you need to know to start the process can be found in Chapter 5 of the IAWP Handbook. It's easy, just take one award at a time and find someone to be responsible for submitting it. If you have any questions please contact me or anyone on the board of directors.

Secretary Solis

Secretary of Labor Solis announced her resignation on January 9th. In her letter of resignations, Secretary Solis wrote, more than 1.7 million people have completed federally-funded job training programs. Solis said she was particularly proud of enforcement efforts that have saved workers' lives and recovered back wages owed to workers. "Leaving the department is one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made, because I have taken our mission to heart. As the daughter of parents who worked in factories, paid their union dues and achieved their goal of a middle class life, and as the first Latina to head a major federal agency, it has been an incredible honor to serve," Solis said.

Secretary Solis Letter

UI Extension

A year-long extension of unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless was included in the final agreement on tax and spending issues by Congress.  This will preserve benefits for more than 2.1 million people. The $30 billion extension, which was not offset by other spending cuts was part of the deal worked out by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Biden.

New BLS Commissioner

Erica L. Groshen of New York was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 2nd as the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She has served at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 1994, and is currently the vice president and economist in the Regional Analysis Function of the Research and Statistics Group. She also has held a number of other positions, including vice president and director of regional affairs in the Communications Group and assistant vice president in the Microeconomic and Regional Studies Function. She began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Groshen, who earned her Ph.D. at Harvard, is a member of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Users' Advisory Committee.

Happy New Year

The "Fiscal Cliff" was finally addressed by Congress over the New Year's holiday.  The bill that was finally passed will protect millions of middle-class taxpayers from tax increases that were set to take effect this month. However, it also will let rates rise on wages and investment profits for households making more than $450,000 a year.  

The bill will also extend Unemployment Insurance to approximately 2 million unemployed workers who are about to lose their federal benefits.  It also delays sequestration for two months to allow Congress to come up with a plan so automatic cuts to federal budgets won't take effect.

 

In my opinion, this wasn't a perfect fix and definitely wasn't a long-term solution.  Congress still has lots of work to do.  I encourage you to contact your congressional representatives and let them know how you feel about cuts to federal programs.