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.